Prophecy Of The Dragon Savior!
by ShinigamiXtreme
Summary: When Natsu destroyed the Eclipse Gate,its magic got him unexpectadly transported into a new world. There,he searches for a way to return back home when fate brings him in front of an unknown girl.A girl who lives in a snow land and belongs to a tribe of snow women.How will the dragon wizard handle this awkward situation and what kind of new experiences and dangers lie in his path?
1. Dragon Boy Meets Snow Girl!

-Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Rosario + Vampire. They belong to their respective owners.-

a=Narration and descriptions

"a"=Dialogues

_a_=Inner voices or thoughts

**a**=Intense dialogues

`a`= Phrases with hidden or another meaning-irony-sarcasm.

*a*=Sounds

[a] =Time and places

(a)=Small side-notes

**This story takes place some months after the expected finale of Rosario's manga (whenever that gets released) and a little before the end of Fairy Tail's Grand Magic Games Arc where Natsu destroyed the Eclipse Gate.**

**About why I chose this two as my main couple now… You can say that I'm a big fan of Hamlet's Romeo x Juliet. I generally like the concept of two people who absolutely can't be together, falling in the end for each other. And as we all know, fire and ice are two completely opposite elements.**

**Also, I'm not sure if some you will find some oociness here (or not, but I'm mentioning it anyway just to be honest), but we are dealing with a whole new scenario neither Mashima, nor Akihisa have thought of, so a little oociness is expected. In any case, I'm a third person, so making everything look 100% exactly like the original is pretty much impossible. Hope you can overlook this a bit and enjoy my story in the process.**

**For the end, there's a trailer I have prepared especially for this story on You Tube, so if you want to check it out before starting reading to get a general idea of the story's plot, just search for= Natsu x Mizore Crossover AMV [Prophecy Of The Dragon Savior!].**

**That's all for now! Have a pleasant reading and enjoy!**

* * *

1: **Dragon Boy Meets Snow Girl!**

* * *

**{Youkai World}**

[Land of the snow women – Snow priestess's temple – Throne chamber.]

It was a usual day in the snow women's land and like always their boss, the snow priestess, was sitting on her throne watching over them with the help of her magic, crystal ball. But that tranquil atmosphere wasn't destined to last for long.

*Fsrrss* (Sound of a spirit materializing

Just when everything was looking so peaceful, ectoplasm started oozing out of the magic seal she had on her left glove, prolonging the appearance of her spirit partner, Jack Frost.

''Greetings… snow priestess!'' The pierot-like spirit bid to her in a sneaky- sounding voice the moment he fully materialized.

''Greetings to you, Jack! Should I guess that you have a new prophecy for me since you decided to appear?''

''That is correct…! But this one… is different than the others I have given you before.''

''Which means…?''

''You will understand… when you see it yourself…'' The spirit answered her and next started projecting a series of images inside her brain, clouding her vision.

First, it was the image of a humongous ice crystal being shattered to pieces, unraveling a large evil smile. Following that, the image of a horde of ice monsters breaking havoc across their land. Then, the image of her tribe being chained down like slaves and crying in despair. And lastly, the image of a dark pink-haired young man surrounded by flames with a bright sun rising behind him. After that, the projection stopped and snow priestess's vision reverted to normal.

''**This is a catastrophe!**'' The snow priestess claimed upset, lowering her eyelids as a sign of worry.

''Yes… Indeed, it is…''

''If this prophecy comes true, our tribe will be lost forever. We must do something to prevent it.''

''The only one… who can prevent the chaos from descending upon your people… is that young man… He holds the light of hope in his hands… and the power necessary to save you all from doom.''

''But who is he? And how can we find him?''

''This… is unclear… For some reason… I can't see anything else related to him... But be sure snow priestess… He will come soon… His destiny dictates it…''

With those being his last words, Jack Frost became silent and started returning back into the snow priestess's glove's seal. As for the priestess, she remained in her chamber to wonder alone and troubled what the future had in store for her tribe and the identity of the savior Jack spoke of.

* * *

**{Fairy Tail World}**

[The same time – Fiore's Capital, Crocus – A little after Natsu destroyed the Eclipse Gate.]

After a vicious and long battle, the nightmare of the dragons' threat finally disappeared as every giant lizard had started fading with the Eclipse Gate's destruction, vanishing into thin air and indicating the humans' victory. A fact that managed to bring back everyone's smile and lighten their faces that were previously painted in anxiety and despair. At last, everything was back to normal… Or at least at first glance.

''LUCY, LUCY! WE WON! THE DRAGONS ARE DISAPPEARING!'' Happy trumpeted cheerfully to Lucy while flying to her place.

''Yes… *Sniff*… We did it…!'' Lucy whispered to herself with a few tears of joy springing in her eyes the moment she noticed him.

Next, Happy arrived close to her and landed a few steps away from her

''Natsu saved us all!'' He told her in the same cheerful tone, walking towards her.

''Uhm! I know.'' Lucy replied to him with a positive nod, wiping her tears with her left hand while smiling.

''He's a hero now! The king has to deem him a knight…! No, a duke!''

''Heh, heh! I'm not sure about that Happy, but anyway, the important thing is that we are all fine.''

''No, no, no! He has to! Natsu is amazing! If it wasn't for him, everyone would…'' Happy started saying to her then in a slightly stubborn tone, turning at the same time his face towards the Gate's rubble ''…Hm…?!'' and coming into a shocking realization that forced him to stop his speech midway, taking a puzzled expression.

''What is it, Happy?''

''Err… Lucy…''

''Yes!''

''Natsu crashed right onto the Gate, didn't he?''

''Um? Yes. He did. Why?''

''It's weird… I can't see him anywhere… Why isn't he coming out of the rubble?'' Happy asked in a worrying tone with his face now fully turned towards the Gate's remnants.

''Eh…?!'' Lucy questioned with a surprised look on her face upon hearing him and hurriedly turned her face towards the rubble too, sharing his worry.

''It's already been fifteen minutes since he destroyed the Gate. Why isn't he coming out? It's definitely weird!''

After hearing those words, Lucy placed her right fist over her chest, a few drops of sweat appearing on her face.

''Could it be that he can't get out? He got pretty hurt during that battle.''

''Yes…'' Lucy replied to him, lowering her eyelids, her worry rising. ''I don't want to think about it, but he may need our help. Natsu is tough, but that battle was too straining even for him… Better look for him to see for ourselves.'' She suggested, turning to her small friend. ''Right Happy?''

''Aye! I will go scan the rubble from above.'' Happy replied to her and not wasting a second, he released his wings and flew above the large boulders.

Following his lead, Lucy got ready to follow him to search from the ground, but unexpectedly didn't have the change due to a series of voices that sounded behind her, interrupting her movements.

''HEEYY, LUUCYY!'' Gray yelled from behind her

''LUCY-SAANN!'' Wendy followed second.

''ARE YOU OK LUCYYYY?'' Erza followed third.

Hearing them, Lucy twitched her eyelids in surprise and turned her face behind her, witnessing her three friends running to her place.

''Everyone…?'' She questioned upon seeing them and stopped her attempt to walk forward, turning her body to face them.

* * *

[5 minutes later.]

''Good to see that you are alright, Lucy.'' Gray told her with a relieved smile.

''Thank you, Gray!''

''Many people got awfully injured, so we were afraid that you would be too, Lucy-san. It's really wonderful to see that you are unhurt.'' Wendy stated to her next with a smile similar to Gray's.

''Sorry for worrying you all, Wendy.'' Lucy replied to her with a small smile of her own.

Then, her smile slipped off her face when she noticed something unusual and goggled.

''Um… Where's Carla, Wendy?''

''She's helping with the others' treatment. I will go too in a little.''

''You don't have to feel bad for worrying us, Lucy. Comrades ought to worry about each other. Otherwise, they aren't worthy of being called comrades.'' Erza claimed in a wise-sounding and straight tone, closing her eyes momentarily and crossing her arms over her chest.

Following that, she opened them again and looked around a bit curiously.

''…And speaking of comrades… Where's Natsu? Taking into account that you were the closest to the place he crashed, he should have been here with you by now.''

Hearing that, Lucy's expression returned to its previous worrying state and she lowered her face.

''I… don't know… With all the commotion, I didn't realize that he was late to make an appearance until a few minutes ago that Happy noticed it himself. ''

''And where's Happy now?'' Erza asked her in a serious tone.

''He flew to search the rubble in case Natsu is trapped inside and can't come out due to his injuries.'' Lucy answered her in a low tone, turning momentarily towards the rubble and after that back to Erza.

''Hmm… I see…'' Erza replied to her, touching her chin skeptically with her right hand.

''I think we must go search for Natsu-san too.'' Wendy suggested, starting worrying herself.

''Yes, I agree.'' Erza agreed with her, removing her hand of her chin and turning to Wendy. ''Let's not waste time…'' She was about to add more, but was cut short by a loud child-like voice.

''LUUUCCYYY…! EEEVERYONEEE!'' Happy's voice was heard suddenly screaming in panic from the rubble's direction.

A fact that made everyone turn their sights at his direction and see him flying towards them with teary eyes.

''Seems like Happy finished his search before we joined him.'' Gray commented while looking at him.

''But why is he crying?'' Wendy wondered slightly puzzled.

''Natsu…! Something must have happened to him.'' Lucy stated in an upset tone.

''I have a bad feeling.'' Erza frowned.

Then, everyone started running towards Happy to meet with him sooner than waiting patiently there for him to reach them himself. Natsu's unreasonable delay to show up combined with Happy's reaction was something that was enough to ignite their fears for the worst.

* * *

[A few seconds later.]

''UAAA… UAAA…'' Happy was crying loudly, currently enveloped inside Lucy's hug.

''Please, calm down Happy. What happened? Why are you crying? Where's Natsu?'' Lucy asked him in a gentle tone while cuddling him to calm him down.

''Yes… Please tell us what you found out Happy. Did you find Natsu-san inside the rubble?'' Wendy asked him in a similar gentle tone, coming close to him from his left.

''…Uuu… No…'' Happy answered her with a crying and saddened voice.

''What?'' Lucy questioned shocked.

''Hey, how can this be? We definitely saw him falling onto the Gate along with that dragon. How can he **not** be there?'' Gray asked Happy, being confused by his words.

''Can you explain to us better what you discovered during your search, Happy?'' Erza asked him in a half serious-half easing tone.

''Uuu… Ok…'' Happy replied to her, turning to her with teary eyes.

After that, doing what Erza asked of him, Happy started immediately explaining to them what took place when he went to look for Natsu.

* * *

[10 minutes later.]

According to his words, he flew over the whole area of the rubble, but he wasn't able to spot Natsu anywhere. That's why he decided to take a closer look, descending to the ground. But to his ultimate shock, he didn't discover any trace of Natsu's body, but rather some small, torn pieces of his clothes. A fact so disturbing for him, as also for the rest of Natsu's friends.

''This… can't be…'' Lucy whimpered in a low tone, placing her hands over her mouth.

''Natsu-san… disappeared?!'' Wendy questioned with an astonished expression, her eyelids trembling.

''**This is nuts! **How can he just disappear? This doesn't make any sense. He **has to** be somewhere around here.'' Gray insisted a little upset. Next, he turned to Erza. ''Right?''

''Hmm… I can't say for sure.'' Erza answered him with a slightly doubtful and skeptical expression.

''Huh?''

''It's true that for someone to disappear so suddenly is quite absurd, but taking into consideration the huge amount of magical energy which had been stored inside the Eclipse Gate, there's a small possibility something unfortunate occurred during his crash.''

''What does this mean? Do you have any ideas about could have happened to that Flamehead, Erza?''

''This moment, none... We need to investigate into this matter further before we start making assumptions… And better do it fast.'' Erza stated, widening her line of sight and looking at everyone.

''Got it!'' Gray replied to her, frowning with a serious expression.

''Ok, Erza-san!'' Wendy replied second.

''I… *Sniff*… will help… *Sniff*… too.'' Happy proclaimed in a crying tone, pulling his face away from Lucy's chest.

''Yeah… Me too!'' Lucy claimed in a determined tone, turning to Erza.

''Good! Let's go then. Every second counts.'' Erza said to all of them with a satisfied look on her face.

Next, Happy released again his wings and flew out of Lucy's arms, beginning heading towards the rubble together with everyone else this time to search for a hidden clue about Natsu's disappearance.

''_Natsu… Where are you…? Ooh, please be alright..._'' Lucy wished in her head with a worrying expression while running beside the others with her fists tightened.

* * *

[At the same time – Inside a golden void of magic energy.]

Unknown to his friends, Natsu was currently floating inside a magic wormhole with his body flowing across a torrent of golden magic energy that belonged to the Eclipse Gate. A state that under normal circumstances would cause anyone great stress and distraught... Except Natsu Dragneel of course! This wasn't something capable of bringing him to his knees. The general situation at least.

''…*Gglpp*… _What the hell's happening?_ '' Natsu questioned in his head, trying to not throw up due to nausea.

Natsu wasn't generally the guy who would let his self be troubled easily by complex situations. But his motion sickness was certainly another case.

''…_I remember crashing on that Gate with Atlas Fire-ojisan_… *Gglpp_*… and then that bizarre light engulfing me…_'' He continued, giving it his best to hold everything inside. ''_…And next I ended up here… _*Gglpp_*… Seriously, what…_ *Gglpp_*… is happening?_'' He questioned again with his `inner world` ready to be launched out of his mouth like a missile.

But for better or worse, he wouldn't have the chance to either think another thing or vomit… A second after he finished his last thought, a white hole appeared without warning in his way and before he was able to even realize it, he was swallowed by it.

* * *

**{Youkai World}**

The same time Natsu got inside that white hole, another similar hole made its appearance upon the sky over the snow continent. Following that, he popped out of it, falling down with his back while the hole closed up in a flash, disappearing from the sky.

''WAAA!'' He screamed in a comical way, knowing that he was without a doubt falling towards the ground.

Something that apparently didn't take long to occur... In the upcoming seconds and without something to stop him, Natsu ended up crashing with his back onto the white veil that was covering the whole land. But thankfully for him, the snow covering the earth's surface was thick enough to work efficiently as a cushion and save him from a very nasty injury to his back, leaving behind his body's mark on the place he landed.

''Ghhkk! **Man! **This isn't funny!'' Natsu complained, pulling himself out of the snow. ''First, I'm floating inside a weird-ass place and now I'm falling from the sky. I don't know who, but if I ever find the one who pulled that prank on me, I will kick him to next week.'' He claimed in a quite irritated tone.

Everything that happened to him during the previous minutes was truly too bizarre and had left him quite displeased and with many questions. But whatever the case, he couldn't stay with his fingers crossed, whining forever like a little kid. He had to move on. So, having now his body out of the snow, he started scanning the area around him to see where he was. But as expected, the whole scenery was completely unfamiliar to him.

''Hey! What's this place? Where's the town and everyone?'' He questioned confused by what his eyes were currently seeing.

And that moment, a quick thought flashed in his mind driving him into a realization.

''Hold on a second! That Gate was supposed to travel through time, right? If that's the case, does this means that**… I TRAVELLED BACK IN TIME?!**'' He questioned again dumbfounded after summing together all the information he had at the moment, goggling next, astonished and with his mouth wide open in a comical way.

*Ffuuss* (Sound of wind.)

''…And it's freakin' cold too!'' He added wrapping his arms around his body after a cold breeze sent chills through his spine. ''Uuddtt… Holy shit, this is serious! I have to find a way to get back home.'' He murmured trembling slightly due to the cold. ''But first I need to find somewhere to warm myself up. If I stay here, I will turn into an icicle.'' He concluded and then started walking towards a random direction in hopes of discovering a shelter or in any case, something that could protect him from the cold.

* * *

[4 hours later – Many meters away from the place Natsu landed.]

Having made his mind a couple hours ago into finding a temporally shelter to face the cold, Natsu began his pursuit of a warm place. But unfortunately for him, wherever he was focusing his attention, he was coming upon the same scenery again and again. Around him there were only tall trees and bushes covered in think snow. Other than those, nothing… Not even a simple cave where he could hide and light a fire to protect himself from the low temperature. And in addition, to make matters worse, after all that walking and the exhaustion due to the difficult battle back home, his body was gradually reaching its limits.

''AAHHH…! What's the deal with all these trees? I'm wandering all this time and there's nothing else here. Don't tell me that I'm going to end up as an ice sculpture.'' He complained in a tired and pretty annoyed tone. _''I'm sure Gray wouldn't stop laughing if he were to hear me saying that._'' He thought next with an unpleased expression.

''Haa… Anyway, since this is the past, I wonder if I can actually meet Igneel here. He's very smart, so he will probably know of a solution to send me back.'' He sighed, but before being able to speak another word, he was destined to be interrupted by a loud sound a little below his chest.

*Groowll* (Sound of a stomach growling intensively.)

''**Dammit! **I'm **so** hungry! I haven't eaten a thing for hours. Not to mention that all that fighting back at the capital drained almost all my powers…. Haa… How I miss Mira's pies right now. I would kill to grab a bite of one of those…'' He murmured in a wishful tone.

But no matter how much he was wishing for it, deep down he was well aware that this was only a fantasy at the moment. So, not wanting to make the situation worse for him, he decided to stop thinking about food in hopes his stomach would forget too… But of course that was impossible, so he had to endure, walking with his body trembling like Lucy's pet, Plue and his stomach growling like an angry beast.

* * *

[30 minutes later – At another location.]

Some additional minutes later, Natsu's body started finally giving into his terrible exhaustion as expected and in the end he collapsed with his front side on the snow. He was a powerful and very sturdy warrior, but no one can go against his natural needs forever. That's why, even after his intense efforts to survive, he ended up in a state where he was laid down unconscious, looking like a corpse ready to freeze and be swallowed by the snow.

*Hhrhts**Hhrhts* *Hhrhts* (Sound of footsteps on the snow.)

But to his good luck, hope wasn't completely lost yet. More specifically, when his fate was looking pretty much sealed, a womanly figure dressed in a white kimono noticed him and approached him to check what he was.

''Eh…? A man…? What is he doing in such a remote location? There shouldn't be others here.'' The womanly figure commented the moment she laid her eyes upon him.

Next, she bent over his body to see if he was alive by checking his pulse.

''Hmm… His pulse is certainly low, but he's still alive. He most likely fainted due to the cold. His temperature is quite low too. Better take care of him before he dies from hypothermia.'' She decided, frowning slightly with a serious expression.

Following that, she lifted him up and placing him over her right shoulder, she started carrying him to another place.

* * *

[1 hour later – At a glade in the forest - Inside a small wooden cabin.]

''Mmghmm…'' Natsu moaned slightly, twitching his eyelids as a sign of waking up.

Next, he fully opened them implying that he had regained his senses and sat up.

''Woaahh! My head's spinning...!

*Groowll*

''…and my stomach is still empty.'' He whined in a dizzy tone, touching his head with his right hand.

After that, he came to a quick realization, goggling slightly.

''Hm?! Weird! The cold stopped!'' He commented feeling warmer. ''How come?'' He wondered curiously and to find the answer, he turned his face around to check where he was.

Then, he noticed that he was currently sitting on a bed inside a wooden room. In addition, there was also a blanket covering his legs, meaning that someone had covered him while he was out cold. Other than these, there was also a small desk a few centimeters to the left of the bed and a small window right above it with gray curtains.

''Huh? What's going on? Where am I…? No, screw that! How did I came here?'' He questioned confused.

For an unknown to him reason, he had been moved to another place without him realizing it, so naturally, he had to find out who did it and his motives behind it. So, wanting some answers, he got out of the bed hastily and walked towards the door, opening it by arriving in front of it. That moment, he came in front of another room, more spacious than the one he was, which had a medium sized table in the middle of it with four chairs placed around it, a small couch on its left, a fireplace beside a small kitchen on its right and a large door across it which was apparently the exit.

''Where the heck am I?'' Natsu wondered again, blinking this time confused.

''Inside a cabin in the forest of the snow women's land.'' A soft female voice answered him suddenly from his right, behind the wooden wall.

''EH?!'' Natsu jolted then slightly surprised and walked a few steps forward hastily, getting out of the room.

After that, he turned his face to the direction the voice came from and there he saw a cute girl with light-purple hair to her shoulder's height, eyes half purple and half azure with blue pupils and a yellow lollipop in her mouth, standing close to him. Her body was well-shaped and she was wearing a white kimono with a dark-pink sash around her waist that was keeping it closed. As for her leg; she was wearing two black sandals with long straps.

''Looks like you finally woke up. I was coming to check on you, but you opened the door before I have the chance to touch it and truthfully, you startled me.''

(Natsu didn't see Mizore right away when he opened the door because she back-stepped when he opened it himself due to the fact that he startled her.)

''Oh! Sorry… Err… Who are you?''

''I'm Mizore Shirayuki. Nice to meet you!'' Mizore answered him, giving him her right hand for a handshake next.

''Nice to meet you too! I'm Natsu! Natsu Dragneel!'' Natsu responded to her by giving her his own hand and completing their handshake.

Following that and having finished with the introductions, they separated them.

''Do you know by any chance how did I end up here?'' Natsu asked her next slightly puzzled.

''Yes! I brought you. I happened to find you when you were lying unconscious on the snow, so I carried you here to help you restore your temperature. You were in a serious condition and if you were to stay the same any longer, you could have lost your life.'' Mizore explained to him casually.

''Ah! I see… Thanks!'' Natsu thanked her with a smile which was both from feeling grateful as also a bit embarrassed for forcing, even without knowing, a girl carry him.

''You're welcome!'' Mizore reciprocated with a small smile of her own.

*Groowll*

''Whoop! My bad!'' Natsu apologized to her that moment, scrubbing uncomfortably the back of his neck from another type of embarrassment due a sudden sound his stomach made because of his hunger.

''No, it's fine!'' Mizore said to him in a reassuring tone since she noticed his uneasiness. ''The truth is that I wasn't so sure, but either way, I went back home for a bit to grab something in case you wanted to eat.'' She informed him and pointed the table with her right index finger. ''Come! It would be more comfortable to eat while you are sitting and in the meantime we can talk too.''

''Yeah, ok! And thanks again!''

''No problem!''

Continuing from there, both headed to the table with Natsu sitting on one of the chairs a little after.

As for Mizore; she placed on it a brown backpack that contained the food she had brought and following that, she opened it and pulled out some rice balls. Next, she grabbed some old dishes from a shelf above the kitchen and placed the rice balls inside, serving them a minute later to Natsu. For the end, she sat too on a chair, which was across him so she could face him when they would start talking.

* * *

[5 minutes later.]

As expected, Natsu wasn't able to restrain himself since he was so hungry and without further ado, began eating hastily like a starved beast.

*Munch* *Munch**Munch* (Sound of someone eating.)

''How are they? Sorry I didn't bring anything better, but rice balls was the only thing that was already prepared at my home.'' Mizore asked him, stating her apology in the process for his lunch's lack in variety.

''Mm…Nvo, nvo…Mmm… Vit'vs vcool…! Vthey vare…Mmm… vgreat…!'' Natsu reassured her while stuffing his mouth with rice balls.

A fact that made his way of speaking sort of difficult to understand and combined with his funny-sounding voice and funny sight while he was eating, drove Mizore to chuckle in amusement.

''Heh, heh!''

''Mmm…? Vwhat…?'' Natsu asked her curiously, still having his mouth stuffed with rice balls.

''N-Nothing…'' Mizore answered him, trying to suppress another chuckle.

''Veh…?! Vreally…?'' Natsu asked her again, blinking and allowing some grains of rice fall down his mouth.

Another thing that looked quite funny to Mizore's eyes.

''Yes… Heh… Really…'' Mizore answered him, giving it her all to not let her chuckles out to not offend him.

Honestly, Natsu's case looked so amusing to her that she felt that she really wanted in a way to laugh. Something she had some time to do. Since the time she returned back home after the final battle with Alucard, her emotions were generally dull. Tsukune had chosen Moka as his girlfriend and from what things were showing, they were planning to marry in a few years...Not that she wasn't expecting something like this; it was obvious that the one he truly loved was Moka. Despite that, she had convinced herself to stay loyal to her love even if it was bound to be one-sided forever. Her feelings for Tsukune were too strong to throw them away. But as time came to pass, she began realizing that this whole thing about holding them alive while observing Tsukune from afar was too painful for her. That's why she decided to return to her homeland for the meantime until Youkai Academy opened up again since it was currently closed due to the fact that Mikogami needed time to recover from the wounds he suffered during the battle. What she desired was solitude and peace of the mind. And the truth was that she managed to find them, but at the same time her inner world had started becoming gradually as cold as the ice crystals around her village… Until this point at least! For a bizarre reason, Natsu with his sloppy and childlike behavior was unexpectedly a sufficient excuse for her to remember faintly how it feels when someone is actually enjoying herself.

* * *

[20 minutes later.]

A couple of minutes later, Natsu finished at last with his lunch, meaning that it was time for his main talk with Mizore to start.

''Huaa… I'm stuffed!'' He claimed with a satisfied smile, patting his stomach with his right hand. ''These rice ball-things were delicious!''

''Glad you liked them. I don't know much about cooking, but rice balls is one of the few foods I'm able to make when I help my mother in the kitchen.''

''Huh?** You** made these?''

''Yes!''

''Wow! You are very good! I can't even boil an egg without messing the whole kitchen.'' Natsu praised her in an amazed tone.

''You are exaggerating.'' Mizore replied to him with a small smile and a very faint blush on her cheeks.

''No, no! I'm serious! Back at Magnolia, I have eaten a lot of tasty foods and I can tell that your rice balls are delicious!''

''Thank you…'' Mizore thanked him for his praising words.

Next, she took a curious expression on her face upon noticing something strange.

''Wait a minute! You said –Magnolia-?''

''Uhm! My hometown... Don't tell me you don't know of it? It's one of the biggest towns in Fiore.'' Natsu answered her with a positive nod, but then came to a quick realization and lowered slightly his face with a skeptical expression. ''Hmm… _Hold on a second! If I'm in the past, doesn't this mean that Magnolia doesn't exist yet?_'' He questioned in his head. _''Ok, now she will probably think that I'm crazy. I must say something clever to cover it. But what…? Hmm… Let's see... Let's see…_'' He continued thinking, changing his expression to a troubled one and scrubbing his chin with his left hand.

A sight that left Mizore quite puzzled.

''Err… Natsu…'' She said to him, trying to draw his attention.

A goal she accomplished apparently. Hearing her voice between his thoughts, Natsu snapped out of his quest for smart ideas, goggling a bit startled simultaneously.

''Eh…? Oh… Yeah… What?'' He asked her flustered.

''Is something wrong?''

''Hm? Oh, no, nothing! I just remembered something.'' Natsu answered her with the quickest excuse his brain could produce.

Not a very good one of course since it left Mizore with a quite confused expression. But she couldn't press it further because it would be inappropriate.

''Alright… If you say so… Then… Getting back to subject; can I ask you something? ''

''Yeah! Totally! Anything!''

''Ok! So… What's this -Magnolia- and -Fiore- you mentioned? I have never heard these names.''

''What? Are you joking? Leaving aside Magnolia, Fiore is a country! How can you not have heard of it? Are you by any chance bad with geography? I have this problem too sometimes.''

''No! I have learned the names of all Youkai Realm's cities and countries, but I never read or heard these two you mentioned.''

''This doesn't make sense! You must have forgot… '' Natsu was about to tell her, but that second his brain worked better her words and he stopped midway, goggling astonished. ''Hey! Hold it! You said –Youkai Realm-?''

''I did. What of it?''

''What's this –Youkai Realm-?''

''Now you're the one who doesn't make sense, Natsu. How can you be here without being aware of Youkai Realm? Could it be that you hit your head before fainting?''

''No, I didn't. It's just that I too never heard of a place like this. Igneel taught me a lot of things about history, but he never told me about a place with this name.''

''Youkai Realm isn't a place. It's a dimension… Natsu… are you sure you are alright?'' Mizore asked him hesitantly with some signs of worry on her face.

''Yeah! But I don't have a clue what the hell's going on. I should be in the past, but how can Fiore not exist here? This is too messed up.'' Natsu answered her completely at loss and with a couple drops of cold sweat flowing down his face.

A reaction that made Mizore understand that there was a need for some explanations here.

''Ok! Seems like we have to clear up some things.'' She stated to him, drawing his attention. ''First of all, we are inside the Youkai Realm; the dimension all monsters and spirits are residing. Furthermore, this place is my homeland; the land of snow women…'' She began explaining to him in a serious tone.

* * *

[15 minutes later.]

In the following minutes, Mizore gave Natsu some general information about the world he currently was, its residents and the barrier that separated it from the Human Realm. In addition, taking advantage of the opportunity, she revealed to him her true nature.

A series of information that made Natsu's confusion hit its max and in addition filled him with anxiety about how will he return back home now that he learned he is in a totally different world. His friends would be awfully worried about him and especially Happy who most likely had started already crying non-stop considering his character.

''You've got… to be kidding me!'' Natsu muttered in shock and with his eyes wide open.

''So you really don't know where you are!'' Mizore commented in a slightly surprised tone.

''My home… Happy… Everyone from Fairy Tail… I must find a way to go back to them… They must be waiting for me…'' Natsu muttered again in distraught, looking at his currently trembling hands.

It was a fact that learning of the truth was a major blow to his inner psychology and that was something Mizore couldn't bring herself to endure keep watching. She was a kindhearted girl, so she could sympathize with him. Losing everything that was dear to you was one of the worst things to happen to anyone and she knew that pretty well. She too had lost her most valuable thing; her only love. Certainly not the same case as Natsu's, but sort of similar considering their inner pain.

''Well, I'm not sure, but there is someone who may know of a way for you to return back to your world.'' She said to him, wishing to lighten slightly his condition.

''Eh?'' Natsu questioned that moment, twitching his eyelids.

Following that, he jolted up from his chair and unconsciously grabbed Mizore's arms **over** **her kimono** **(**keep this in mind for the future) with both hands.

''**Who's he? Where can I find him? Can he honestly help me? Are you absolutely sure about that? You're not mistaken, right?**'' Natsu started bombarding her with questions in an intense tone.

But what he would receive wasn't the answer he wanted.

''Gkk… Natsu… You are grabbing me too tightly.'' Mizore claimed in a slightly pained tone, feeling his strong grasp squeezing her arms painfully.

''Huh?!'' Natsu questioned upon hearing her and then, turning his sight to his hands, he realized what he was doing, quickly releasing her the next second. ''I'm… Sorry… I didn't do it on purpose.'' He said to her in an apologetic tone, lowering a bit his face due to shame.

''No… Don't worry. I understand. It's logical. You want to go home.'' Mizore replied to him, scrubbing each arm with the opposite hand to ease the momentarily pain she was feeling.

Following that and when the pain fully disappeared, she stood up, approaching the now brooding Natsu with a gentle expression on her face.

''The person I'm talking about is my school's headmaster. He has many magic artifacts in his possession, so there's a chance he has something that can help you. The problem is that he is in the process of recovering from some serious wounds he suffered during a tough battle, so it's impossible to ask him for a favor at the moment.''

''I see… This means that I'm stack here for the meantime, right?''

''This seems the case.''

''Haa… Dammit! Just how unlucky am I?!'' Natsu wondered in an upset tone, letting his body fall backwards onto his chair.

''Well… Everyone pretty much has his or hers own unfortunate situations to deal with, I suppose.'' Mizore stated to him, lowering her eyelids with a noticeable sadness covering her face.

''Hm? What do you mean by that?'' Natsu asked her a bit puzzled by her sudden change in her expression.

Hearing him, Mizore turned around and sat again on her chair to be more comfortable while speaking. Next, she started explaining to him her own case where she had to endure the fact that she wasn't chosen by the only man she even loved, being forced to accept a life full of loneliness since she didn't want to marry another man.

* * *

[10 minutes later.]

''And that's all… I know that your own situation is certainly worse, but if it comforts you even a little; you are not alone in feeling that you were hit by great misfortune.'' Mizore said to him with a saddened voice while having a pained expression on her face.

Two things that revealed clearly her inner sorrow and made Natsu feels stupid for making her tell him something so unbearable for her just to ease his own sadness.

''You… You truly loved that guy, didn't you?''

''I did… No, better say that I still do, but anyway, there's nothing to be done. He loves another girl and that's all. There's no room for me to barge in.''

After that, for a strange reason, a small smile appeared on her face.

''Heh! It's funny now I think about it.'' She stated to Natsu with a biased chuckle.

''What?''

''The reason I was out before I discovered you lying on the snow, was because I had gone to visit a special place full of beautiful white flowers that are linked to my memories of that man. Or more specifically, the first time he rejected me; even if he wasn't so clear then. ''

''-The place he first rejected you-? Why should you go visit a place like that? Isn't it painful for you?''

''It is… But at the same time it helps me come to terms with the fact that Tsukune never loved me. By going there, I'm able to face reality, bury my feelings deeper and move on one step at a time...'' Mizore answered him lowering her face. ''…But as I said, it's funny in a way. I was able to find you because I went there and in the end, I ended up telling you the story of my unrequited love. It's quite an ironic coincidence, don't you think?'' She asked him, raising again her face.

''Err… I… suppose…'' Natsu muttered to her hesitantly as an answer, feeling more and more uneasy about the whole situation.

He was sad and a bit frustrated himself about what happened to him, but because of his lack of control over his emotions, he also caused his savior grief. Makarov and Erza would undoubtedly have given him a good beating if they happened to learn of this.

''Anyway… There's no need to bother ourselves with my own case any further. You have one great problem of your own, so it's not right to tire you with my circumstances.''

''No, no, it's fine. It's not bothersome. You wanted to help me cheer up in your own way, right? I'm not so stupid to not realize it. You are a very kind person, Mizore.'' Natsu replied to her and next raised his arms. ''And look! I feel much better already! Moping on the floor isn't at all like me. What happened… happened. Now it's time for me to look forward and search for a way to go back home.'' He said to her in an attempt to make her feel better herself by believing that she accomplished her goal.

An attempt Mizore was able to see through, but chose to let it pass since he looked that he was in a better state than a few minutes ago in any case and it was also quite clear that he was concerned about her latest reactions. And one thing she absolutely didn't wish was to trouble others with her own problems.

''That's good to hear. And thanks a lot Natsu!'' She said to him with a small smile, thanking him directly for his words and indirectly for his concern about her.

After that, both decided to change subject and discuss something less depressing. So, they started chatting about other, more pleasant subjects like their homes, their friends and many interesting or funny situations they happened to experience during their life.

* * *

[2 hours later – Evening.]

From that point a few hours passed with the two of them engrossed in their conversation, starting gradually lightening up the previous heavy atmosphere in the room. For Natsu of course this wasn't something new since he often had many talks of that sort with his friends from the guild, but for Mizore it was like a breath of fresh air after a long period of staying close to herself without a chance to relax psychologically. But as they say, every good thing comes to an end at some time.

''Hm? Oh! Seems like time passed without us noticing.'' Mizore commented taking a quick glimpse on a wristwatch she had under her kimono's long sleeves. ''It's already late. I have to head back home, otherwise my mother will get worried and make a fuss.''

''Got it! Parents are scary when you piss them off.'' Natsu replied to her, bringing to his mind some memories of him getting scolded by Igneel.

''They sure are!'' Mizore agreed with him and next got up from her chair, grabbing her backpack and turning towards the exit. ''So… I'm guessing this is goodbye for now. I will come back tomorrow morning to bring you something to eat for breakfast.''

''Ok! See you tomorrow! Bye!'' Natsu replied to her, bidding her goodbye with a cheerful smile.

He had accidentally traveled to an unknown world, but at least he was able to make a good friend there and also have a very enjoyable talk with her. And this was enough to make him feel satisfied for the meantime.

''Goodbye!'' Mizore bid him in accordance and walking toward the exit she opened the door and went out.

As for Natsu; he set off to search for something to occupy his time before he went to sleep.

* * *

[10 minutes later – Somewhere some meters away from the cabin.]

Leaving the cabin, Mizore was currently snowboarding towards her village using a board made of ice.

_''Today was quite a bizarre day…! But anyway, I don't regret saving Natsu. It would be a pity for him to die in such a place, away from his home._'' Mizore commented in her head. _''He is quite a good guy from what I can tell_'' She added with a small smile. ''Heh! _Not to mention pretty funny too!_'' She continued with a little chuckle, remembering his face when he was eating. ''_And he also praised my cooking._'' She finished with a faint blush on her cheeks.

That day was undoubtedly very different compared to the previous ones. She found herself saving an unknown man, befriending him later and finally ended up revealing to him her deepest emotional scar. It was really strange in a way because she generally liked to avoid discussing the topic, but for an unexplainable reason, Natsu's presence gave her a sense of relaxation. She didn't know him well, but either way, he wasn't giving the vibe of a person who holds hidden secrets or wears a `mask` to trick others. On the contrary! He looked more open and true than many people she had already met. Truthfully, she didn't know what her fate had in store for her, but for now she was happy for being able to relieve a little of her stress thanks to him… But soon she would discover that this day's surprises were far from over.

*Pbfff* (Sound of explosion.)

Without warning, a strong explosion was heard from a distant place on her left startling her and making her turn her face in its direction.

''What was that?'' Mizore questioned worriedly, stopping her course and focusing her eyes on the location she heard the sound.

There, she noticed a straight line of smoke rising slowly in the sky. But that wasn't all. The most important thing was **the place** where that smoke was coming from. As the second absurd coincidence of the day, the smoke was coming from the plain of Snow White flowers. The place she mentioned to Natsu earlier and held her memory of when she confessed to Tsukune for the first time. It wasn't a pleasant memory, but a precious one to her as a girl nonetheless.

''The Snow Whites' plain! Why is there smoke coming from there? This isn't right. I must go there to check what's going on. If anything happens to that place, the future generations won't be able to perform the Flower Offering anymore.'' She murmured to herself while staring at the smoke.

Next, she resumed her snowboarding, but this time she was heading towards the plain after a slight change to her course.

* * *

[Another 10 minutes later – At the Snow Whites' plain.]

*Pbfff*

Following the first explosion, a second one took place at the plain's location. The cause of it was a large fireball that was fired from a deep-orange lizard with flames coming out periodically of its mouth. A mythical lizard that went by the name –Salamander-.

''Whooohooo! This was amazing, Aniki!'' A man wearing a black suit and black shades commented excited, looking at a big, charred hole in the middle of a couple of white flowers.

''Ha! As always, Aniki is the best!'' Another man with similar getup added with a wide grin.

''Draig-aniki was too strong before, but now he's unbeatable!'' A third man in an attire same with the previous ones followed third with an enthusiastic smile on his face. Then, he turned to his back. ''Right, guys?'' He asked a bunch of men with the same outfits and glasses.

''YEAHH!'' All of them shouted together as one.

After that, the first guy began approaching Draig from his left.

''These new drugs that enhance your natural abilities are great, aren't they Aniki?'' The man asked him the moment he arrived beside him.

''They sure are!'' Draig answered, turning his head to him.

After that, he started glowing in an orange light and changing shape, transforming steadily to an orange-haired human wearing a black suit and black shades.

''With this new drug we will be undoubtedly able to rise at the top of the yakuza (mafia) world, Draig-aniki.'' The third man said to him, approaching him too.

''Yeah! And when that time comes, me and Dreik nii-san will rule the underworld.'' Draig claimed with a half satisfied-half evil grin.

But his moment of joy wasn't destined to last for long.

''HEY! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING THERE?'' A female voice was heard yelling from a small distance behind them.

Hearing it, Draig, as well as also his underlings, turned their sights to the direction it came from, witnessing Mizore standing a few meters away from them with a frustrated expression on her face.

''Who the hell is that girl?'' Draig asked his underlings in an annoyed tone without turning back to them.

''No idea, Aniki! But taking into consideration her light clothes despite this cold, I'm guessing she's probably one of those snow women.'' His second underling answered him in a slightly unsure tone.

''One of those meddling wenches, huh?'' Draig murmured frowning.

''THIS PLACE AND THESE FLOWERS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO MY PEOPLE. WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO DESTROY THEM?'' Mizore yelled at them again, tightening her fists in frustration.

''SORRY TO INFORM YOU, MISSY, BUT WE DON'T REALLY NEED PERMISSION OR ANYTHING… THIS PLACE IS PRETTY SPACIOUS, SO IT'S PERFECT FOR OUR LITTLE TESTS'' Draig shouted back at her in an indifferent and arrogant tone.

''What?!'' Mizore questioned to herself in a low tone, goggling in astonishment at his terrible behavior.

''WE CAME HERE TO PERFORM SOME TESTS UPON A NEW PRODUCT OF OUR GROUP AND THERE'S NO WAY TO STOP MIDWAY. SO IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEFORE WE MAKE YOU REGRET IT.'' Draig warned her changing his tone to a hostile one.

A tone that combined with his words made Mizore's anger rise.

''DREAM ON!'' Mizore replied to him in an extremely angry tone, transforming her hands into ice claws. ''I WON'T LET YOU DO AS YOU PLEASE.'' She stated to them and next rushed to their place.

''Ha! She wants to play tough! What a fool!'' Draig commented staring at her with an underestimating expression. ''Hey! Someone take care of her. I don't care who, just make her shut up.'' He ordered his underlings without turning back to them.

''As you wish, Aniki!'' One of the men who had gathered altogether replied to him almost immediately and next nodded to two others to accompany him.

For their next step, they changed to their monster forms (they are second-rated minions, so their forms are irrelevant) and started rushing too against her.

''Like I would get beaten by scums like you.'' Mizore claimed, watching them approaching her in slightly high speed.

So, wishing to not waste time on them, she used her ice power and fired something like a mini snowstorm on them, covering them completely in ice.

''Too easy!'' She murmured passing near the three ice statues she just created.

''Impotent morons!'' Draig commented after what happened to his men and following that, he turned finally back to the rest of them. ''Why are all of you standing back there like rocks? Go catch her!'' He ordered them in an irritated tone, frowning.

''YES, ANIKI!'' All of them replied to him with loud voices and next transformed to their real forms and stormed against Mizore as a team.

''Want to play unfair, huh? Well, I'm not scared by numbers.'' Mizore murmured to herself with a composed expression, noticing all of them coming to her place.

For that moment, it didn't take long for her and her opponents to make contact, engrossing their selves in the process into a heated battle.

*Hshstt* *Crkkst* *Hpfftt* *Dang* *Kssrst* (A variety of different sounds during a battle. Leave it to your imagination.)

A battle where Mizore presented an excellent performance of her fighting skills she had sharpened thanks to all the training she had undergone with her friends. To her opponents' astonishment, she was able to hold her ground without many difficulties despite being by herself, dodging their attacks with swift maneuvers on her snowboard and later striking them back with her own techniques like her ice daggers, her ice manipulations or her ice clones which she was mostly using to counter multiple hits.

* * *

[15 minutes later – With the boss of the black suits- men.]

''Ok, this has really started getting on my nerves!'' Draig claimed in a very annoyed tone, watching his men having a hard time against a single girl. ''Gil… Kane… Ronny… Put an end to this farce already!'' He demanded from the three men who were the first ones to approach him after the second explosion.

As it seemed, they were his three top-class underlings.

''Alright, Aniki!'' The three of them replied to him as one and next scattered around the area.

* * *

[At the same time – With Mizore.]

*Hshstt* *Crkkst* *Hpfftt* *Dang* *Kssrst*

''You guys are no match for me!'' Mizore stated avoiding an incoming attack by the claws of a monster that looked like a humanoid panther. ''I suggest you to give it up and get out of here.''

''Zip it, wench! Aniki said that he doesn't want us to leave, so we won't!'' The panther-like monster replied to her in an irritated tone and attempted a second strike with its claws.

''How troublesome!'' Mizore commented with a blunt expression, hearing it.

Following that, she jumped before it hits her, avoiding its claws as result and grabbing its head a little before she lands, freezing it whole. A very effective move that sent her opponent to the icy dreamlands.

''Seriously now,it's better for you to give up.'' She claimed in a low tone, looking at her beaten opponent.

Continuing from there, she made an attempt to move on towards the next one, but…

*Ccrrsskk*(Sound of underground movements.)

…the ground under her feet began shaking intensively, forcing her like this to stop at her tracks.

''What in the world is happening?'' She wondered, blinking in confusion.

But she wouldn't have the chance to say another word. Without warning and when she least expected it, two large, rocky hands emerged from inside of the ground grabbing both her legs and lifting her in the air.

''Ugkk… What…'' Mizore was about to question, groaning a bit from feeling pain due the intense grasp on her legs, but was cut short by a male voice before finishing her sentence.

''Heh, heh! I caught you!'' A deep, male voice was heard laughing from the place between the rocky hands.

The following second, the ground at that spot started splitting, revealing the face of a grinning stony monster with yellow eyes.

''Playtime's over!'' The rocky monster said to her with the same grin.

''Not in my opinion.'' Mizore replied to it frowning and tried to target it with her hands to throw some ice daggers at it, but…

*Ssplttss*

…just when she was ready to fire them, a few green ,slimy balls were fired at her body, splashing on it and covering a few parts of it, putting her attack on hold.

''Huh?!'' Mizore questioned goggling intensively upon feeling her hands being covered in slime. ''What now?''

''Ha! How do my slime balls look to you, snow girl?'' Another male voice was heard asking her from behind.

Then, wanting to see who it was this time, she turned her face around, witnessing a green, humanoid slime monster standing a few meters away from her with both its hands pointed at her.

''You crook!'' She cursed, grinding her teeth in anger and trying to freeze it with a snow storm.

But surprisingly, she couldn't use her ice powers.

''Hm?! Impossible! Why can't I control ice?'' Mizore questioned in shock.

''That's because my slime has some special properties which allow it to absorb the water particles in your body, as also from around you, so your powers are useless at the moment.'' The slime monster answered her in a delightful tone.

''What? You've got to be kiddi…'' Mizore was about to say, but once again, she was cut short.

''…And since you are powerless, it's time to put an end to your annoying blabbering.'' A third male voice was heard close to her right rear.

A voice that startled Mizore and made her attempt to turn her face towards its direction. But unfortunately for her, her attempt was destined to fail. More specifically, a few seconds before she turned her face completely to the voice's direction, something feeling like a needle stabbed her a little below her right limbs, next to her stomach and she automatically fainted.

* * *

[10 minutes later.]

*Hpff* (A slap's sound.)

''HEY, BITCH! WAKE UP ALREADY!'' One of the black suit-men yelled at the unconscious Mizore, slapping her hard on her left cheek.

A slap so hard that was enough to work as a means to make her come back to her senses… In a **very **painful way!

''Mmmtss… What happened to me?'' Mizore moaned in a low and slightly pained tone opening slowly her eyes and trying to move.

But without success for some reason. She didn't know what yet, but she was feeling something hard and cold wrapped around her body that was restraining her movements. So, to discover what is was, she put an effort to fully open her eyes. Then, she witnessed to her utter shock that she was chained on a tree with a few thick chains wrapped around her upper half.

''This… How did I end up like this?'' She questioned upset as she looked at the chains.

''How do you imagine?'' Draig asked her walking closer to her. ''We couldn't have you run around anymore, messing with our work, so we decided to tie you up to be less of hindrance.'' He explained to her with a satisfied smile. ''But I have to give it to you, girly! You have guts! It's been long since my boys faced such a bothersome opponent.'' He praised her and then turned his back. ''But even you, you aren't a match for my best three.'' He stated to her while looking at the two monsters that attacked her a little ago and were standing beside another one which looked like a humanoid scorpion. ''Good job as always… Gil…'' He claimed looking first at the rock monster. ''…Kane…'' He continued, focusing his sight on the slime monster. ''…Ronny…'' He finished, changing his focus to the scorpion-like monster.

''Thanks, Aniki!'' The rocky monster thanked him.

''It was nothing, Aniki!'' The slime one claimed in a boasting tone.

''We're always at you services, Draig-aniki!'' The scorpion-like one assured him with a devious smile.

Next, having heard what they had to say, Draig turned back to Mizore.

''You may be strong, but no one has ever been able to face the triple combination of Gil, Kane, and Ronny.'' He informed her with a proud smirk. After that, he closed his eyes. ''Now… Since we can't delay further our little business here, I'm afraid we have to get rid of you pronto.'' He said to her without qualms, opening his eyes. ''But be thankful! After some thought, I decided to give you the honor to die by my own hands. The hands of the man who's going to become the second strongest in the whole Youkai underworld.'' He stated to her with a devious grin.

After that, he started glowing in the same orange light like earlier and in the end, he transformed into his true monster form.

''Heh! It's quite ironic now that I think about it! You are a snow girl and you are going to die by being burned alive… Or better say vaporized! Hahaha!'' Draig sniggered in a mocking tone.

An act all his underlings mimicked, laughing too with their boss's ironic joke.

''Your time has come, snow girl.'' Draig said to her, opening widely his mouth and starting gathering flames in a big fireball.

''Tch…'' Mizore clicked her tongue with a frustrated expression, watching this scene in front of her.

From the look of things, she was pretty much doomed. For a start, there were still some remnants of that slime on her body, so she was unable to use her powers to free herself and in addition, considering that these three that beat her were there, even if she was able to do that, most likely they would catch her again. Not to mention that their boss was just a few meters away from her, ready to turn her into steam with his flames. Honestly, a very hopeless situation!

But the thing that she regretted more than the fact that she was about lose her life in the upcoming seconds, was that she would die without having a last chance to see or speak to Tsukune. She might had made her mind to forget him, but dying without saying her last goodbye to him was unbearable for her. But unfortunately, this was impossible. Her fate was already sealed. She would die there without anyone finding out. Neither her mother, nor her beloved one… A thought that brought a series of sorrowful tears to her eyes.

''Goodbye!'' Draig bid to her as his final words and after that fired towards her the fireball he was forming all this time inside his mouth. ''HAA!''

An action that made Mizore closes her eyes tightly as a sign of accepting her cruel fate.

*Fshuaa* (Sound of sucking air.)

But as it seemed, her luck hadn't ended yet. Just when the fireball was inches away from her flesh, a sound like someone sucking air started being heard and quite unexpectedly it changed course heading to its right.

(Friendly suggestion: Play Fairy Tail's OST - Dragonslayer if you want from here on. It will make things look more badass!)

''Hm? What the…?'' Draig questioned puzzled and turned his head to the direction his fireball was flying to.

There, he, as well as also his underlings who had mimicked him, saw a dark pink-haired young man in bizarre-looking clothes and a strange red tattoo on his left arm, standing a few meters away from them with his mouth wide open, sucking air and apparently, Draig's fireball too. Then, when the fireball reached his mouth, to everyone's shock, he ate it like it was some kind of food.

''Guaha! What a terrible taste! I feel like throwing up.'' The unknown man complained with an unpleasant expression after swallowing the fireball.

As for the ones who saw him doing it; they were currently looking at him with their eyes wide open.

To what it had to do with Mizore now… She was still waiting for her death with her eyes closed. Something that had delayed too long to take place and in accordance had left her pretty puzzled.

''_Hm..?! It's strange… I should have been dead by now… What happened…?'' _She wondered inside her head and to find some answers, she started opening slowly her eyes.

And by doing that, she fell upon a totally absurd sight. All the men together with their boss had averted their attention away from her and were currently staring shocked at something at their right. So, with her curiosity rising, she concluded that it would be wise to check for herself what was the thing that had caused them such a great shock and to do so, she too turned her face to the direction they were looking at. And that moment her eyes went wide like the other ones'. What everyone was staring at, was Natsu. The last man she expected to see at the moment.

''Who the heck is that guy?'' Gil questioned astonished.

''He ate Aniki's fireball!'' Kane pointed with a confused expression.

''This is absurd!'' Ronny commented with a few drops of sweat flowing down his face.

''_Natsu…?! What is he doing here?_'' Mizore questioned puzzled in her head. ''NATSU!'' She called to him screaming. ''WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? THESE PEOPLE ARE DANGEROUS! RUN! IF THEY CATCH YOU, THEY WILL…'' She started shouting at him in an anxious tone, worrying about his safety, but wouldn't have the chance to complete her sentence.

''Hey, Mizore!'' Natsu called back at her in a slight loud tone, interrupting her. ''Could it be that the place with the flowers you were talking about is this one?'' He asked her with a serious expression.

''Eh…?! Yes!'' Mizore answered him blinking slightly.

''I see… That settles it!'' Natsu whispered in an angered tone after her answer.

Next, he covered his eyes with a fictional shadow and began walking towards the group of men.

''Look! He is coming this way.'' One of the men pointed watching Natsu approaching them.

''It seems that he's a friend of the snow girl.'' Another man commented second.

''He must have come to save her. Better take care of him too.'' A third one suggested frowning.

''Ok!'' The other two agreed with him and following that they rushed towards him in their monster forms.

Little they knew, the one they were going against wasn't such a simple opponent to be made light of. The moment they reached in front of Natsu and were about to attack him, he reacted with amazing speed, punching all of them swiftly in the gut and sending them flying straight to some trees where they crashed, losing their senses. After that, he resumed his walking with the fictional shadow still covering his eyes. A scene that left even more shocked their boss, their comrades and also Mizore who couldn't believe in her eyes. Natsu had just beat three monsters in a single second without shedding a drop of sweat. To what she knew, a feat of this level could be achieved only by a royal vampire like Inner Moka. Or more specifically, Real Moka as they had learned by now that the Outer one was an artificial personality.

''Three guys…! He took out three of our guys in a split second!'' Kane commented in utter shock.

''This man doesn't look like he will be so easy to deal with.'' Ronny commented sweat dropping anxious.

''Damn! Who's this weird-looking pest?'' Draig questioned in his head irritated.

That moment, with everyone else remaining unmoved due to their shock, Gil took the liberty to step forward and go fight Natsu alone.

''Ha! Beating three weaklings isn't such a big deal. I will crush you like a bug.'' He claimed to Natsu while getting closer to him.

Then, when they finally came face to face, he didn't waste time and threw almost immediately his right fist towards him, striving to pulverize Natsu with a single blow to look good in the eyes of his boss.

*Hpp* (Sound of a hand grabbing something)

But things wouldn't go his way. Right before his fist make contact with his target, Natsu placed his left hand in its course, grabbing it and stopping it without much effort.

''Huh?!'' Gil questioned twitching his rocky eyelids.

''Weak.'' Natsu murmured while holding his fist.

Following that, he raised his face to look Gil in the eyes, unavailing his own eyes from the fictional shadow and revealing like this a deep scowl.

''You call that a fist?'' He asked Gil in a low tone and without further ado drew back his own right fist. ''**This **is how a real fist looks like!'' He claimed, engulfing his right fist in flames.

A sight that made Mizore goggle intensively in surprise.

''KARYU NO TEKKEN!'' He exclaimed shouting and smashing roughly his flaming fist right onto Gil's torso.

*Hpftt*

''UWAAA!'' Gil screamed in utter pain feeling Natsu's fist piercing his body.

Next, several cracks started making its appearance around his body's surface and in the end…

*Crssfkkk*

…it broke apart and was reduced to a great number of small stones. A fact that made most of the men there start trembling in fear since Gil was one of their strongest companions, his two equals in power take a furious expression and his boss scowl extremely frustrated.

''Ok… Who's next?'' Natsu asked, turning his sight to the rest. ''I'm gonna make you all pay for hurting my friend.'' He stated to them in an intimidating tone.

An action that reached the frustrations of the two other monsters to its max due to his arrogance, driving them to try attacking him together to increase their chances of avenging their fallen comrade.

''HOW DARE YOU KILL GIL?!'' Kane screamed at him furiously.

''YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!'' Ronny mimicked him in the same state.

Following that, the first started throwing a large number of slime balls towards Natsu in hopes of slowing down his movements while the second began squirting a purple liquid from his tail which was apparently paralyzing venom considering Mizore's state earlier. As for Natsu; he didn't looked even the slightest fazed watching their attacks heading his place, but instead remained unmoved, covering his whole body in a thick cloak of flames. Flames that managed to counter his opponents' attacks by burning the slime and vaporizing the venom before they make contact with him.

''WHAT?!'' The two monsters questioned simultaneously with their eyes going wide due to their astonishment.

''Was that really your best?'' Natsu asked them then in a low tone, concentrating at the same time a sufficient amount of flames on his hands. ''If you want to beat your enemy completely, you have to use at least something like **this!**'' He claimed frowning and without warning, jumped to their place. ''KARYU NO KOEN!'' He exclaimed shouting and bringing together his hands.

An action that combined and released all the flames on his hands, creating a huge explosion that engulfed the two monsters and burned their bodies to nothing, leaving behind only a large crater of burning land.

''This will teach you a lesson to not mess with my friends.'' Natsu claimed in an irritated tone, looking at the crater he had created.

As for the monsters' companions; they were currently staring at Natsu, shaking like fish out of the water.

''L…ies… This guy… just killed Gil-san, Kane-san and Rony-san in less than five minutes...'' One of the men muttered ready to faint from his fear.

''Not to mention… that he did it without allowing them to even scratch him…'' Another one added in the same state.

''He's too strong... He will kill us all if we stay here… I… **I'm outta here!**'' A third man claimed with a frightened expression and continuing from there, he made a reversal and began running away in panic.

A wise action his remaining comrades decided to mimic, following after him in the same state as him.

*Hrsfff* (Sound of something getting burned)

But they wouldn't have the leisure to go far. A few seconds after they started fleeing, a large fireball was fired at the man who started running first, reducing him to ashes. This resulted in all the others to stop at their tracks, turning astonished their faces towards the direction the fireball came from. There, as expected, they witnessed their boss targeting them with his mouth wide open and an angry scowl over his face.

''WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, IDIOTS?! WHO PERMITTED YOU TO RETREAT?'' He asked them in a furious tone.

''B-but Aniki… That guy is way out of our leagu…'' One of the men tried to reply to him, but…

*Hrsfff*

…he got the same treatment as the previous one, getting burned to ashes.

''THE ONE WHO GIVES THE ORDERS HERE, IS ME! SO, GET YOUR SORRY ASSES BACK RIGHT NOW AND ATTACK HIM IF YOU DON'T WANT TO END UP LIKE THESE TWO!'' He threatened them in a hostile tone.

He was a man who was supposed to become one of Youkai underworld's leaders. Admitting defeat by an unknown guy would be extremely humiliating to his reputation. And that was something he couldn't allow to happen no matter what.

''Shit! What should we do?'' One of the men asked the rest in distraught. ''That guy looks very powerful, but if we disobey Aniki, he will execute us without a second thought.''

''I say we attack that pink-haired troublemaker. He's the enemy and we are screwed either way!'' Another man answered him in a half-determined tone, trembling.

Hearing him, the others worked a bit his words in their mind and then came altogether in agreement by nodding positively their heads. Next, they all transformed to their real forms and stormed as a pack against Natsu.

''Tch! This doesn't sit right.'' Natsu murmured in a displeased tone, staring at the monsters heading straight at him. ''Fighting opponents who don't wish to fight is against what Gramps taught us… Better put them to sleep before things become more troublesome.'' He added and following that, he rushed against them with his fists engulfed in a medium to low amount of flames.

As for his next step; the moment he met with them, he drew back both his fists, tightening them in the process.

''**METSURYU OGI: **GUREN KARYU KEN!'' He exclaimed shouting intensively and right after that, he began bombarding all the monsters with a series of fierce and rapid flaming punches.

*Hpfft**Hpfft**Hpfft**Hpfft**Hpfft**Hpfft**Hpfft*

An action that achieved both countering them before they attack him as also knocking them out one by one without inflicting them so much damage, preventing them this way from sacrificing their lives for nothing since they were actually doing this mostly due to fear of their boss.

* * *

[5 minutes later.]

In the end, thanks to Natsu's last technique all of his opponents were now unconscious, piled up in a large hill made of monster bodies a few inches to his front, having only medium burns over their chests.

''Good! This will do for now. I tried to hold back as much as I could so they probably aren't dead.'' Natsu claimed, looking at the pile of the monsters' bodies. ''Normally, I would have kicked their butts totally, but killing people who don't wish to fight is for scum.''

Natsu was a wizard of Fairy Tail; a Light guild too pride of its members' honorable way of fighting and handling their problems. Acting cowardly and taking advantage of their foes' weaknesses or hesitance was out of the question for anyone of them and that applied double for Natsu who thought of the guild as his home. He had vowed to himself to never act against the guild's moral codes and he was determined to keep his vow no matter what.

*Hhhrrss* (Sound of fire moving through the air.)

But unfortunately, not everyone else was as determined as him in `playing` cleanly. Just a few seconds after he spoke his last word, a familiar sound was heard approaching from behind the pile while at the same time the temperature around that area had begun rising rapidly.

''Hm? What's this feeling? It feels like…'' He was about say, but before he has the chance to complete his sentence the pile of bodies was engulfed in flames.

Flames that burned it to a crisp in a flash, continuing advancing upon Natsu and resulting in him getting swallowed whole by them.

''NATSUUU!'' Mizore screamed with teary eyes, watching him disappearing inside the flames.

''BHAHAHAHA!'' A devious laugh was heard then from the direction the flames came from.

Hearing it, Mizore recognized the voice right away and turned her face towards its direction to witness Draig laughing hysterically while staring at the flames that swallowed his men's bodies and Natsu. But except that, she also noticed and something else... Something very outrageous… For an absurd reason, his body was almost twice as big than earlier, his muscles were looking like they were about to rip his flesh to gush out and his veins had popped out and were currently in plain view with only a thin layer of skin covering them with difficulty. In addition, his mouth was full of flames that were swirling inside his gullet. It was honestly a **way too** bizarre sight since he didn't look at all like this some minutes ago. But with a better look, someone with sharp eyesight could distinguish with a little effort a small, empty bottle standing below his belly. A bottle that apparently had something to do with the drugs they were talking about earlier. From the look of things, while Natsu was taking care of his underlings, he made use of that spare time to gulp all the drugs to boost his natural abilities.

''HAHAHAHA! This is incredible! I feel like a whole new person. My body is bursting with power! Even my fireballs evolved to a flamethrower. With a power as great as this one, I'm sure I can even rival S-Class monsters… No, wait! I could even beat Dreik nii-san and take his place as the gang's main boss. Heh, heh, heh! Me as the main boss… It really has a wonderful ring to my ears!'' Draig claimed to himself with a wide grin and a delightful expression.

But unfortunately for him, he wouldn't be able to preserve them for long.

''I wouldn't bet on that.'' A voice was heard saying from inside the flames.

A familiar voice both Draig and Mizore heard and made them goggle startled… A voice that belonged to no other than Natsu who had suddenly started walking out of the fire unscathed with only his clothes a little burnt.

(Natsu's clothes are specially designed to withstand fire. That's why he isn't left naked after he uses full-body fire techniques.)

''Im… **Impossible!** How can you still be alive after being hit by my superior flames? This doesn't make sense!'' Draig asked him in confusion.

''Natsu…'' Mizore whispered on the other hand, shedding now tears of joy from seeing that he is alive.

''-Superior flames-, you said? Ha! Don't make me laugh! These flames were the weakest flames I have ever experienced.'' Natsu stated to Draig in a low tone.

After that, he scowled having a furious expression on his face.

''But despite being so weak… They were enough to mess my friend's precious place and kill your own men. The men who were respecting you as their boss and you repaid by exterminating them without a second thought… And for these two reasons, I will make sure to **obliterate you!**'' He growled at him with a few veins twitching on his forehead.

Attempting to destroy Mizore's important place and hurting her in the process were two things which had already made him angry enough, but adding to them and the murder of his men by his own hands was something that had reached Natsu's furiousness to its max. His motto was –respect and help your friends-, so witnessing that creature remove without any qualms the lives of his own comrades was an extremely unforgivable act… An act he wasn't going to leave unpunished.

''This is the end.'' Natsu claimed to him with a hostile expression and next jumped hastily from his current spot, starting right after this rushing towards Draig with his fists tightened and engulfed in strong flames.

''You vermin! I'm going to…'' Draig tried to say to him, but to his bad luck, he wouldn't have the chance.

Due to his excellent speed, Natsu had arrived close to him before Draig has even the time to notice him and was now standing right below his mouth.

''KARYU NO TEKKEN!'' Natsu exclaimed shouting, smashing with force his right fist to Draig's lower jaw…

*Hpfft*

…and deforming it as a result.

''GWAAA!'' Draig screamed feeling intense pain from his attack.

But this was only the beginning of his punishment.

''KARYU NO SAIGA!'' Natsu exclaimed again, swiping at his neck in a claw-like fashion with his left hand…

*Hhrcsst*

…and ripping like this Draig's flesh like it was paper.

''UAAAA!'' Draig screamed a second time, feeling even more pain.

''**I haven't finished yet!**'' Natsu stated then to him and engulfed his right foot in flames. ''KARYU NO KAGIZUME!'' He exclaimed a third time and kicked Draig right on his face with a spinning, flaming kick…

*Hftkk*

…that left a huge bruise, as also a burnt mark on its surface.

But before his opponent has the chance to scream something this time, Natsu engulfed quickly his whole body in flames and jumped at him from below.

''KARYU NO KENKAKU!'' He exclaimed a fourth time, head-butting roughly Draig to his torso.

*Hdkkk*

A powerful move that created a deep pit on Draig's chest, implying that Natsu had broken his ribs and next sent him flying backwards onto some trees.

*Ktrtsshh* (Sound of trees being broken.)

''You committed many sins. '' Natsu said to him, starting at the same time walking towards the location Draig crashed onto. ''But now it's time to pay for them.'' He added in a straight tone, punching his right fist into his left palm.

''You… bastard… I… will… never… lose... to… someone… like… you…'' Draig muttered back to him with difficulty due to all his injuries and following that began concentrating a huge amount of flames in his mouth. ''…I… will… eradicate… you…'' He added the same way and without further ado, released a large wave of flames towards Natsu.

''WATCH OUT, NATSU!'' Mizore screamed worriedly to Natsu, watching Draig's most powerful attack approaching him at high speed.

An action which was apparently needless on her part since Natsu wasn't looking the least bit fazed by the flame wave which was about to hit him in the upcoming seconds.

''The same again, huh…? But this time it won't reach me.'' Natsu claimed and drew back his head. ''**Try this instead!**'' He added and started sucking air. ''**KARYU NO HOKOOO!**'' He roared intensively, releasing his own large wave of flames.

Next, the two waves crashed onto each other with Natsu's taking almost immediately the initiate, pushing Draig's back with ease. A fact that made Draig open his eyes widely in fear, witnessing Natsu's wave coming straight at his place while he was unable to move to avoid it.

''NOO**WOOOOH!**'' He screamed in extreme pain for the last time while Natsu's flames were swallowing him, burning automatically his flesh to a crisp.

* * *

[5 minutes later.]

From that point, a few minutes passed with Natsu standing currently still at his spot, staring at a deep, long path of burning land he created with his last technique and was steadily filling itself with water due to the snow that had melt at both its sides.

Then, coming into a conclusion that his job there was finally done, he turned around and started approaching Mizore who was looking at him with her eyes ready to pop out due to immeasurable astonishment. She had met many different and strong fighters in the past, but Natsu was without a doubt a special case. His powers seemed like they could easily match Real Moka's… **No…!** They may be even more superior to hers!

''Sorry I got late, Mizore. It took me longer than I expected.'' He said to her the moment he arrived in front of her. ''Now let's get rid of these things.'' He added looking at her chains.

Following that, he grabbed them and without any difficulties, he started breaking them one after another until Mizore was completely free. A fact that added to her astonishment concerning his powers' level.

''There! Now it's better, isn't it?'' Natsu asked her throwing the last chain away and turning to Mizore with a satisfied smile.

As for her; she was standing unmoved, looking at him with an expression that was revealing clearly her utter confusion.

''…N-Natsu…'' Mizore muttered to him after a few seconds instead of answering his question.

''Hm? What?'' Natsu asked her blinking a bit curious.

''You… You are… a fire user…?'' She asked him hesitantly.

''Eh? Oh, yeah! Heh, heh! I forgot to mention this when we were talking earlier.'' Natsu answered her slightly embarrassed, scrubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Next, he pointed himself with his right thumb.

''I'm Fairy Tail's strongest fire wizard. Natsu Dragneel; the fire Dragon Slayer.'' He stated to her with a wide smile full of pride for himself.

''-Dragon… Slayer…-'' Mizore repeated, muttering again while having her eyes and her mouth wide open.

''Yup! That's also the reason I was able to track you. You forgot the towel in which you had buddle up the rice balls, so I thought to use my nose to find you and return it before you go too far. We Dragon Slayers have pretty keen noses, you know!'' Natsu said to her widening his smile.

After that, he placed his left hand in the left pocket of his jacket and pulled out a white kitchen towel which he handed to her the next second. A towel she took unconsciously, but without changing in the least her astonished expression.

That was seriously the weirdest day of her life. She saved an unknown man from the snow, ended up sharing with him her inner sorrows, fought a whole gang of yakuza, came pretty close to dying and in the end, got rescued herself by the same man she previously helped. And on top of all these, she learned that he was a fire user…A ridiculously powerful fire user… Yeah… Truthfully, that was one of the weirdest days of her life. A day she would never forget and was the beginning of a series of events that were bound to change her whole life… And **not only** hers!

* * *

[3 hours later – At a location quite far from the land of snow women - In a secret, underground hideout.]

''Hmm… So my arrogant little brother was killed by an unknown man who uses fire, right?'' A male, shadowy figure asked rubbing his chin with his right hand while sitting on a small couch.

''Precisely, Dreik-sama!'' Another male figure which was kneeled in front of the first one answered him.

A figure that was apparently a flying monster since he had long wings on his back and a beak instead of a normal mouth.

''It's quite a tragic fact, but I hope it won't sadden you so much that you will lose focus of our main goal.''

''Heh! Don't be stupid, Ren! Like I would ever let myself be affected by this disgrace's death. I was well aware of the fact that he desired my position as head of the gang. Learning that he died is more of a relief than something to be saddened about.''

''I'm glad to hear that, Dreik-sama.''

''Yeah… And you know… You mentioned that all of this took place in the land of the snow women, right?''

''Yes!''

''Hmm… I was wondering for a long time which place we should choose as our territory's first expansion, but as it seems, the answer came to us by itself. I have heard pretty interesting things about that place and its beautiful residents, so I suppose it wouldn't be a bad to establish a new base there.''

''Excellent idea, Dreik-sama…! Now, if you excuse me, I have to go inform the others to make the necessary preparations for a raid.''

''Perfect! This you should.''

Next, the winged figured flied away, leaving back the other figure alone.

''A capable fire user, huh?'' He questioned placing a cigar in his mouth. ''This sounds like it's going to be fun.'' He claimed, lighting the cigar with a crimson flame he produced with his right index finger.

* * *

**A/N: And that's the end for now!**

**Hope you liked it.**

**Also, about the fact that Mizore is a bit more talkative here than usual, it's because she's the main heroine, so I can't have her say only 6-7 quotes in every chapter. The recent chapters of Rosario II have also shown that she can speak efficiently if she has to, despite being generally a quite character.**

**Next time Natsu is going to meet the snow women and Mizore's mother… And of course we will have more action! ;)**

**[Boy, this is going to be interesting for Tsurara to see a man close to her daughter other than that wimp Tsukune. Not to mention that this man uses the opposite element from all of her tribe.]**

**For the end, a great thanks to my beta reader ****Puck's Favourite Girl for her precious help in completing this chapter!**

**See you next time!**

**Be well and love Japan! ****Ja'ne!**


	2. Prejudice!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Rosario + Vampire. They belong to their respective owners.-

a=Narration and descriptions

"a"=Dialogues

_a_=Inner voices or thoughts

**a**=Intense dialogues

`a`= Phrases with hidden or another meaning-irony-sarcasm.

*a*=Sounds

[a] =Time and places

(a)=Small side-notes

**Hi guys! Chap 2 is finally here. Well, concerning this chap I don't have many things to say up here so…**

**Have a pleasant reading and enjoy!**

* * *

2. Prejudice!

* * *

[The day after Natsu saved Mizore – Morning – In front of the snow women's village's ice gate.]

''We are here. This is my village.'' Mizore dressed in her usual kimono informed Natsu who was standing next to her.

''Whoaa! Talk about a nice place!'' Natsu commented amazed, with his eyes wide open while staring at it. ''Everything's glowing!''

''Thanks! I'm happy you like our land.'' Mizore thanked him with a small smile.

Following that, she changed her expression to a serious one.

''Natsu… You remember what we discussed, right?''

''Eh…? Oh, yeah, yeah! I remember. I mustn't reveal to anyone that I'm a fire user.'' Natsu answered to her, turning his face to her.

''Exactly! What happened, it's really unfortunate, but now there's no other choice but to let you temporarily live with us until you find another place.'' _

* * *

[Last night – In the cabin Natsu was using as shelter.]

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Natsu felt the urge to use the toilet, so he got up of his bed. But to his utmost dismay, the temperature was extremely low and as a result his body got cold enough for him to start shivering. Next, when he finally finished his `business`, he was about to return back to his bed, but before he had the chance, he sneezed hard as a reaction to the cold, releasing a small amount of flames from his mouth. An amount of flames that fell onto the wooden floor and started spreading fast across its surface due to the fact that the wood was old and in accordance, easy to be burnt.

In conclusion, after some minutes Natsu ended up sitting inside a large campfire. He could escape of course, but to him, staying inside flames was a thousand times better than staying out in the cold weather. And he, as well as his clothes, were fireproof to a major degree, so there wasn't actually a problem in his opinion.

* * *

[6 hours later – Morning.]

Hours later the sun rose in the sky and with the first light of the day, Mizore visited the cabin to bring Natsu something to eat for breakfast. But to her greatest surprise, the sight she came upon after she arrived there, left her speechless. The whole cabin had been reduced to charcoal and in the middle of it Natsu was sleeping comfortably with a carefree expression of his face. A sight so absurd that lead Mizore to lose the strength in her legs and kneel down shocked and with her mouth wide open.

* * *

[Present.]

''Heh, heh… I really messed up, didn't I?'' Natsu asked Mizore with a wide smile full of embarrassment, scratching the back of his neck as sign of his uneasiness. ''Erza has told me to place my hand in front of my mouth whenever I want to sneeze, but I forget it every time.''

''Well, it's meaningless to cry over spilled milk. You can't change the past.'' Mizore replied to him to reduce his embarrassment. ''What we need to do at the moment is go to my house and introduce you to my mother. I explained the situation to her earlier when I ran back there for a little and she told me that it's fine for you to stay at our home since you don't have anywhere else to go. But in any case, you have to be very careful to not let anyone find out who you are; my mother included. Our tribe consists of kind people, but the fire element is taboo for our race.''

''Roger! I will be super careful! You can count on me.'' Natsu assured her, bumping his right fist on his chest.

''Good!'' Mizore claimed with a small smile and next turned to her front. ''Let's go.'' She added and started walking towards the opened gate's interior.

''Ok!'' Natsu replied to her and followed her.

* * *

[20 minutes later – In front of Mizore's house.]

''Oh my! So, this is the boy you mentioned, Mizore? He is quite the charming young man, I must admit!'' Tsurara commented to her daughter, praising Natsu with a pleased expression.

He and Mizore had arrived at her home a few minutes ago and after asking of a woman who worked for her household to call Tsurara, they waited a bit until her beautiful silver and purple-haired mother finally made her appearance from the building's main entrance, wearing a long, classic, white kimono and an azure sash around her waist to keep it closed.

''Eh? Err… T-Thanks… I suppose…'' Natsu responded to her compliment in a confused tone and with an intense blush on his cheeks.

He was used to hearing people calling him a lot of different things; mostly negative like –blockhead- or –troublemaker-, but never in his life something like –charming-.

''Y-You too are very beautiful.'' He complimented her back to show that he had good manners.

He was going to stay at her house, so he had to show its owner that he wasn't an ungrateful man and in addition, Igneel had taught him that he always had to reciprocate in a proper way when someone was praising him.

''Mmm! Handsome **and** polite!'' Tsurara commented a second time in a delightful tone after his words. ''_…And with a pretty manly appearance…_'' She continued inside her head while checking out Natsu's well-trained muscles and six-pack. ''I was wondering what kind of person would be the man Mizore was going to bring with her and truthfully, I'm glad to see that it's someone like you… err… Could you tell me your name?''

''Natsu… Natsu Dragneel! Nice to meet you, Mizore's mom.'' Natsu answered to her in a more casual tone, getting over his momentary blush.

''Nice meeting you too, Natsu-kun! And my name is Tsurara Shirayuki. Calling me –Mizore's mom- sounds pretty awkward.''

''Oops! My bad! I will keep in mind to not do this again, Shirayuki-san.''

''- Tsurara-san -… I want you to call me – Tsurara-san -. You are going to live together with us from now on, so pronouncing me with my surname sounds to formal between people who are about to share the same roof, don't you think yourself?''

''Yeah… Good point! Then, I will call you –Tsurara-san-.''

''Excellent! And you know, in the future you are free to call me –mother- if you ever wish for it. I don't mind. Hu, hu!'' Tsurara stated to him with a small chuckle and her eyelids lowered.

''Huh?!'' Natsu questioned, blinking a few times puzzled by hearing that.

Always loyal to her usual habits, Tsurara was trying once again to get a husband for her daughter, despite the fact she just met Natsu. But as expected, knowing too well her mother, Mizore realized it right away and deduced that she had to interfere before things go out of control. Natsu was there due to need, not to as a candidate to become her fiancé.

''Mother, please stop it. You will make Natsu feel uncomfortable.'' She scolded Tsurara in a complaining tone, stepping forward.

''Um? Why are saying that, Mizore? What I'm striving obviously is the opposite. I want Natsu-kun to feel as comfortable as he can like he is at his home.'' Tsurara replied to her, not affected in the least by her daughter's complaint.

But unexpectedly, someone was bound to be affected by her** own** words. More specifically, the moment Tsurara talked about him feeling like he is at his home, Natsu's expression changed to a faintly sad one and he lowered his face slightly. Something Mizore noticed from the edge of her right eye and understood very well its meaning. She seriously had to stop her mother before she said anything else that would pain Natsu.

''Mother, let's end this conversation. Natsu isn't used to the temperature out here and if we keep this up, he is going to end up with a cold.'' Mizore explained to her in a serious tone.

According to her logic, Tsurara wouldn't like the man her daughter brought home, who could also be proved to be a future choice for a groom, to get sick and in any case, there was also truth in her words since Natsu was dressed very lightly and that meant that he was quite vulnerable towards the area's low temperature.

''Hmm… I think you are right, Mizore.'' Tsurara replied to her after taking a quick glimpse at Natsu's clothes. ''It might be better to go inside. It's warmer there and we can give Natsu-kun some heavier clothes. We surely wouldn't like it if he were to catch a cold.'' She added with a smile. ''Come.''

''Ok.'' Mizore responded and moved inside the house's main hall.

''I'm coming too.'' Natsu claimed, following after Mizore. ''Thanks again for letting me stay here, Tsurara-san!'' He said to Tsurara the moment he passed next to her.

''My pleasure, Natsu-kun!'' Tsurara replied to him in a cheerful tone while he was walking away from her. _''It's the first time Mizore brought a boy here since the time she brought Tsukune-kun and her friends. She was so closed up to herself the past weeks that I was afraid that she would never associate with anyone else ever again. For her to open up to someone and on top of that, so fast, Natsu-kun must be a special case. As her mother I can't let this chance to slip by._'' She thought in her head, focusing her eyes on Natsu's back.

* * *

[10 minutes later – In the house's living room.]

After Mizore and Natsu walked into her house, the same woman who talked with them earlier escorted them to its living room so they would feel more comfortable while discussing with Tsurara. In addition, she instructed two other women who also worked for Tsurara to go bring Natsu a set of warm clothes.

That request was a bit difficult of course since no one of the snow land's residents needed warm clothes in their lives. But in the end they managed to find two kimonos for men, probably owned in the past by Mizore's father and bring them to Natsu to wear them both on top of his usual clothes. Following that, Tsurara came too in the room, sitting on a couch across her daughter and Natsu who were sitting on another one. _

* * *

[20 minutes later.]

''I see… Mizore didn't exactly explain to me all the details, but I'm quite surprised to hear that you came from a different world, Natsu-kun. Our Realm is considered too another world compared to the Human Realm, but either way, both coexist in the same dimension. Learning that there are other dimensions out there except our own sounds almost unbelievable.'' Tsurara said to Natsu with an amazed expression.

From the moment she joined them, she kept asking Natsu questions about himself and his home, so it was inevitable for him to make a mistake due to his character and accidentally reveal to her the truth about his journey to their dimension. But to his good luck, Tsurara started commenting on this right from the next second, so he didn't have time to say anything about his powers. As for Mizore; she came close to having a heart attack when she heard Natsu saying to her mother that he fell from a hole in the sky. Good thing that her mother had that other habit of not letting anyone finishes talking after hearing them talking about something that piqued her interest.

''Well, Earthland exists. And I'm sure my friends are waiting for me. I just wish, I could return to them as soon as possible. I miss them so much!'' Natsu murmured in a wistful tone.

''I understand. It must be really hard for you, Natsu-kun. When Mizore's father went back to his Yuki-Otoko tribe, I was devastated during the first days and if I didn't have my daughter with me, I'm guessing that I would still be in the same state. That's why, for as long as you are going to remain in our world, I promise you that our family will support you in any way we can.'' Tsurara promised to him, joining her hands in front of her chest.

After that, she turned to Mizore.

''Right, Mizore?'' She asked her with a small smile.

''Eh? Yeah! I owe Natsu my life, so this is the least I can do for him.'' Mizore answered to her in a casual tone.

''Well said! As expected of my daught…'' Tsurara was about to say with a proud look on her face, but she wouldn't have the chance to finish her sentence.

''Please pardon my interruption everyone, but I brought the tea and the sweets Tsurara-san asked me to.'' The familiar woman announced to the two women and Natsu while holding a large tea tray with a teapot, three cups and a plate with a variety of small traditional Japanese sweets.

Hearing her, everyone turned to her place.

'Thanks, Setsura-san! And sorry for increasing your work.'' Tsurara thanked her, changing her tone to an apologetic one near the end of her speech.

''Not at all, Tsurara-san. It's my duty to take care of the house and your guests. And considering that this is to welcome a boy who saved our Mizore-chan, I would feel bad if we didn't offer him something to show him our hospitality.'' Setsura replied to her in a humble tone. ''So, should I place the tea tray on the main table or you would like me to leave it here?''

''I think leaving it here would be more convenient. It's just tea, so moving to the main table isn't necessary.''

''Very well! I will do as you wish.''

Next, Setsura walked closer to them and made a move to place the tea tray on a small, short table between the two couches. But in the process, she tripped on the living room's carpet, looking like she would fall down together with the tray. That moment, Natsu jumped from his seat to grab her and prevent her from injuring herself by crashing on the floor.

A goal he achieved in time thanks to his quick reflexes, but also had a completely unexpected result. More specifically, that precise second Natsu grabbed Setsura to help her maintain her balance and his bare, left hand touched her own bare, left hand, she felt an intense burn like her skin was lit on fire and she automatically jolted towards the other direction, throwing the tray in the air. As a result, she fell onto the couch Tsurara was currently sitting while the tea tray with everything it had on it ended up landing on Natsu, soaking his clothes in tea and filling his hair with many little pieces of sweets.

''Woah! Natsu are you alright?'' Mizore asked him, standing up from her seat hastily.

''Ggk! Yeah… But the sweets are gone!'' Natsu answered to her in a sort of whining tone.

Those sweets seemed very tasty to him, so he was eager to put them in his mouth, but unfortunately, now all of them were scattered on his head and the floor beneath him.

''What's the matter, Setsura-san? What happened?'' Tsurara asked her, turning to her puzzled.

''…I'm sorry, Tsurara-san. I don't know why, but when our guest touched me, I felt like my hand would melt. I'm aware that this sounds absurd, but it's the truth.'' Setsura explained to her in an apologetic, but also shocked tone.

''-You felt like your hand would melt-?'' Tsurara repeated even more puzzled and next turned to Mizore and Natsu.

From the look of things, Natsu's fireproof body, which was trained to withstand extremely high temperatures, wasn't exactly a good combination with the snow women's bodies if he were to come into direct contract with them. But that was an explanation Natsu and Mizore couldn't give to Tsurara, so they had to improvise.

''Err… This… was probably because of… err..'' Natsu started muttering hesitantly, without having a good excuse in his mind at the moment.

''…Static electricity.'' Mizore added, completing Natsu's explanation with scientific reasoning.

All those studying sessions with Yukari back at Youkai Acadamy weren't for nothing as it seemed.

''It's common for people to momentarily feel heat or a light sting when their skin rubs together with force. Natsu's and Setsura-san's hands rubbed together too quickly, so she experienced a phenomenon of static electricity and confused it for actual fire.''

''Is that so? Well, that makes sense.'' Tsurara commented on her words, thinking more highly over her daughter for being such a smart girl.

''I'm so sorry, Tsurara-san! I embarrassed you in front of our guest.'' Setsura apologized once again to Tsurara, tightening her eyelids as a sign of her shame.

''No, it's fine. This was an accident. It wasn't your fault, Setsura-san. '' Tsurara stated to her to ease her worry and then turned to Natsu. '' Would it be too much to ask of you to forgive Setsura-san for what happened, Natsu-kun?''

''Huh? Ah, not at all! I don't mind it.''

Next, he looked at his clothes.

''But my clothes are a mess.''

''That's not a problem. I will go ask my people to clean them for you. And in the meantime, you can visit the hot spring we have at our back yard. This will help you clean yourself and keep your body warm until your clothes are ready.''

''I see! I will go with this then.'' Natsu replied to her with a small smile.

''Splendidly!'' Tsurara claimed in a satisfied tone and without wasting a second, she stood up, helping at the same time Setsura to do the same.

Then, she instructed Setsura to go treat her hand since it looked that it was still bothering her and she, herself, went to inform her other female employees to prepare the hot spring and clean up Natsu's clothes.

As for him and Mizore; after the two women walked out of the room, they just exhaled in relief simultaneously as a sign of how tensed up they were earlier that Natsu's secret was about to be brought to light with that sudden accident.

Well, sometimes it's wise to not count your chickens before they're hatched as they say. And both of them would learn the actual meaning of this idiom very soon.

* * *

[25 minutes later – At the house's private hot spring.]

A little later, two women came and escorted Natsu to the hot spring, taking his clothes when he undressed. So, currently, he was soaking himself inside the hot water, relaxing and enjoying its warmth.

''Whoaahaa! This is heaven!'' Natsu claimed in a delightful tone while sitting in the hot spring with his back leaned on a boulder that was in the middle of it. _''Gek! Just now I sounded like an old man._'' He thought, goggling slightly. _''Oh, never mind! The water's perfect, so who cares?_'' He added not bothered, taking a relaxed pose by placing his forearms behind his head and leaning it on them like they were a pillow.

* * *

[Behind some high bushes close to the hot spring.]

''That's quite surprising! I never expected to hear a young man like him say something like this.'' A purple-haired woman in a white kimono whispered to another blue-haired one in the same attire who was standing next to her.

''Me neither, but we shouldn't let ourselves get distracted, Yukimi-san. Tsurara-san gave us a task, so we mustn't fail.'' The other woman pointed to her in a serious tone, also whispering.

''I do. I'm not so old to start forgetting things, Setsumi-san.'' Yukimi replied to her a bit offended.

* * *

[10 minutes ago – In one of the house's room's.]

''Did you understand what I want you to do… Yukimi-san… Setsumi-san?'' Tsurara asked the two women, turning to each one by the call of her name.

''Of course, Tsurara-san!'' Both answered to her simultaneously.

''But isn't this a bit extreme, Tsurara-san?'' Yukimi asked her then, looking somewhat hesitant.

''I share the same thought with Yumiki-san. Isn't Mizore-chan going to get mad if we freeze her friend to keep him here until she decides to marry him?'' Setsumi asked her second, having doubts about Tsurara's plan too.

''You are both right, but please try to look at this from my perspective. Mizore is my precious, only daughter. Watching her wandering inside the house while grieving silently for her lost, first love pains my heart. I wish for my daughter to find happiness and make a family before it is too late. You are well aware of the fact that our race can reproduce only when our bodies are still young. If Mizore doesn't find a husband soon, she will never be able to give birth to her own child… That boy, Natsu-kun, managed to earn my daughter's trust when she seemed completely isolated emotionally and furthermore, he also saved her life. I'm not sure if this is a gift from God or what they call –fate-, but I can't sit still and leave everything to luck. I have a responsibility to help my daughter and I'm determined to do so even if this means that I have to use underhanded methods.'' Tsurara claimed with an expression that revealed clearly her steely resolve.

A sight that made all the doubts the two women had, disappeared.

''Fine, Tsurara-san! We will do it.'' Setsumi agreed in a determined tone.

''For Mizore-chan's sake.'' Yukimi added the same way.

''Thank you both a lot!'' Tsurara thanked them, bowing slightly her head.

* * *

[Present – Behind the bushes.]

''Alright! Are you ready, Yukimi-san?''

''Yes! Let's do it!''

* * *

[Back to Natsu's place.]

''Heh! To think that you can find a place so warm in such a cold area! Mizore's mom is a genius for building it. I ought to remember to thank her later for this warm ba…'' Natsu was murmuring to himself, but he wouldn't have the chance to finish due to an unexpected phenomenon.

When everything seemed so warm inside and around the hot spring, the air above it suddenly became chilly and the water's temperature started falling dramatically.

''What the…?! Where the hell did this chill came from? And why does the water feels so cold now?'' Natsu wondered, wrapping his arms around his body and shaking due to the cold. ''I thought this was a **hot**sprin…'' He tried to question this time, but once again he was bound to be cut short midway.

This time from something more direct than a simple change in temperature.

''NOW!'' Yukimi shouted, jumping out of the bushes.

''YES!'' Setsumi followed, shouting too and jumping beside her co-worker.

Then, before Natsu has the time to comment on the fact that two women popped out while he was butt naked, they bent down, placing their hands in the currently cold water and using their powers, they started transforming it to ice in such an astonishing rate that he didn't have the chance to get out and as a result was trapped whole inside of it.

''This looks good enough.'' Setsumi stated, standing up.

''Better go announce to Tsurara-san that our mission was a success.'' Yukimi suggested, standing up too.

''I agree.'' Setsumi replied to her, turning to her.

After that, both turned around, getting ready to leave, but to their ultimate astonishment…

*Kkkrtss* (Sound of ice shattering slowly)

…a sound like cracks being formed on the ice stopped them in their tracks with their eyes wide open. To confirm what was happening, both decided to make a reversal, but the sight they witnessed turned their faces' skin even whiter than it already was.

''L…ies…'' Yukimi muttered in utter shock.

''It's absurd!'' Setsumi claimed with her eyes trembling.

* * *

[5 minutes ago – In Tsurara's room.]

''I heard you called for me, mother.'' Mizore said to Tsurara, entering her room.

''Indeed!'' Tsurara answered to her, approaching her.

''So… What's this so important matter you wanted to discuss with me?''

Hearing that question, Tsurara didn't answer, but closed her eyes, remaining silent.

''Mother?''

''…What do you think of this boy named –Natsu-, Mizore?'' Tsurara answered to her at last with a question of her own, opening her eyes and having a pretty serious expression on her face.

''Huh? Natsu?! Why are you asking that?'' Mizore asked her again puzzled.

That moment, she came to a realization by summing unconsciously in her mind her mother's character together with her behavior from the moment Natsu appeared in front of their door.

''Hold on second! Don't tell me that you are planning seriously to make him my husband? I convinced myself that you were just fooling around earlier… Natsu isn't from our dimension and we have no right to chain him down here by forcing him into a wedding. And in any case, I don't think that I ever said that I'm looking for a man. For God's sake, mother! You always…''

''…I always worry about you and your future, Mizore. I know that Tsukune-kun's decision to not pick you has affected you greatly, but you can't stay stacked in the past forever. You have to get over him and move on. You need to find a new lover and create a family with him. You are close to your eighteens. For how long do you think you will be fertile? It may looks selfish of me to push you despite your will, but you don't have much time. At best, you have only two years left to conceive a baby. And who knows when a good boy like Natsu-kun will appear before you again? If you don't snatch the opportunity now, you might never have the same luck.''

''Even so, I can't throw away all my feelings for Tsukune so easily, or neglect Natsu's wishes for my own benefit.''

''Then, what are you planning on doing? Stay alone forever and waste your entire life in the name of your unfulfilled love? Are you honestly such a sorry woman, Mizore? I don't remember raising you like this!'' Tsurara stated to her in a frustrated tone, frowning.

''I don't care! My life is mine to handle. I gave in the pressure of our laws once, but I won't do the same mistake again. I…'' Mizore tried to reply to her, being in the same state, but was interrupted by a loud sound…

*Ktspbff* (Sound of a type of explosion after something breaks with force)

…and a quick, but strong tremor through the ground.

*Grrttss*(Sound of the ground shaking)

''What were these?'' Mizore questioned astonished by what took place a second ago.

''It's bizarre, but the sound seems like it came from the back yard.'' Tsurara pointed, turning her gaze to the back yard's direction.

''-From the back yard-? Isn't there where Natsu is?'' Mizore asked her worried. ''We must go see what happened.'' She added and started heading to the back yard.

''I'm coming too.'' Tsurara claimed and without further ado followed after her daughter.

* * *

[In the main hallway.]

Both mother and daughter were filled with anxiety due to what happened a little ago, that's why they tried to run as fast they could to Natsu's side, but in the end, surprisingly they wouldn't need to go far. Just when they had covered half the distance, Natsu walked in their way from a corner, wearing a towel around his waist and holding with each of his hands the women who attempted to freeze him from the collars of their kimonos. In addition, he had a quite angry expression on his face for some reason.

A reason Tsurara was **well **aware of.

''Natsu, what's going on? What was that noise earlier and why are you holding Yukimi-san and Setsumi-san?'' Mizore asked him at loss, approaching him.

''-**Why**-, you ask? Well that would be because they tried to turn me into an icicle.'' Natsu answered to her in frustration.

Next, he looked at them with a vein twitching on the left of his forehead.

''I was taking my bath peacefully without bothering anyone and then they jumped out from behind some bushes and started freezing the water I was in. I knew they were back there because of their smell, but in the beginning I thought that they were your gardeners or something, that's why I ignored them… **But they attacked me ****dammit!**'' He growled pissed. ''Good thing the ice wasn't such a big deal, so I busted it and got out.''

* * *

[10 minutes ago – At the back yard.]

When the two women turned around to see what was that they heard, they discovered that it was the ice they had just created to trap Natsu with its surface full of large cracks, meaning that it was ready to shatter. Something that happened a few seconds later with Natsu emerging from inside of it like a beast after making the ice explode to pieces by using his brute force. He had deduced that he was between friends, so he had let his guard down, but as it proved, this was a major mistake. A mistake he was sure to correct right away, rushing to the women's place before they escape, grabbing them tightly from the collars of their kimonos and dragging them next inside the house to take some answers from Mizore and her mother.

* * *

[Present.]

''N-No… W-Wait… We didn't want to attack you.'' Setsumi muttered to him a bit scared of his face's expression.

''T-That's right… O-Our goal wasn't to hurt you. We just wanted to keep you immobilized.'' Yukimi added, muttering too.

''And why did you need to do that?'' Natsu asked them again in a frustrated tone.

Hearing his question, the two women turned their faces towards Tsurara like they were asking for help. A gesture Natsu noticed and made him mimic it.

''Tsurara-san, did you have anything to do with this?'' He asked her half confused-half angry.

''Eh…? Well… You see Natsu-kun…'' Tsurara started saying to him, hesitating while averting her eyes to the left and right.

As expected, she didn't have a good excuse to give him. She never really imagined that someone could actually break free from the snow women's ice, so there wasn't any need for her to prepare a fake explanation beforehand. And that came back to bite her. But despite this, she couldn't reveal to him the truth behind her employees' actions. That would make Natsu hate her and also destroy her grand plan to get him together with her daughter.

But hope wasn't entirely lost for her yet. Even though she was mad at her mother for her persistence to make her marry someone and for what she instructed her workers to do to Natsu, Mizore couldn't abandon her at that difficult situation. She was her mother nonetheless and also, if things stayed like they were, Natsu would think that they both tricked him. And she certainly wouldn't like that considering that he saved her from those criminals.

''Natsu, please calm down. I know that what they did to you was bad, but I believe them about not wanting to hurt you. These women work for us for many years and I can guarantee to you that they aren't evil people.'' Mizore said to him with some drops of sweat flowing down her face due to the uneasiness she was feeling.

''Then why did they try to freeze me?''

''This…err…''

Well, Mizore made an attempt to cover for them, but truthfully, even she couldn't think of something good enough so fast to justify their actions. This time her mother went too far with her plots.

But due to some crazy whim of fate, this whole incident was bound to be put on hold in the upcoming seconds and be replaced by something even more crucial.

''And to be honest, I would have understood it if I had done something wrong to make them think of me as their enemy, but I…aaa… didn't… **aaa…** do… AAA… anything…. ACHOOO! Natsu sneezed hard near the end of his sentence, not being able to hold it in.

An action that resulted in two things... The first was for him to let the two women out of his grips thanks to the sneeze's intensity and the second…

*Ffhhss*

…to release a few flames in the air the second he sneezed. A fact that left everyone, who was present, with their eyes and mouths wide open, but for different reasons. Tsurara and the two women because they discovered that they were hosting a fire user inside the house and Mizore because now things were undoubtedly destined to become way too complex.

''*Snfft*… Damn, I forgot to cover my mouth again. At least this time nothing got burned.'' Natsu commented, wiping his nose with his right hand while looking at the floor to check if it was fine.

After that and not hearing the others talking anymore, he lifted his face to see what was going on. And when he did and checked their faces, even a guy as dense as him could easily realize that he had made a major blunder.

''Oh, crap!'' He murmured stunned inside of his teeth, sweat-dropping comically.

As for the rest…

''WAAHHH! FIRE! HE BREATHED FIRE!'' Setsumi screamed in panic, pointing her right index finger at Natsu.

''HE IS A FIRE USER! WE TRIED TO FREEZE HIM AND NOW HE IS GOING TO MELT US!'' Yukimi followed, screaming in the same state and touching her cheeks with both her hands.

''Huh? No, no, I didn't do it for that. I just sneez…'' Natsu tried to explain to them after watching their reactions, but with no luck.

''WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!'' Yukimi claimed screaming in distraught and started running away towards the house's exit.

''WAIT FOR ME! DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND!'' Setsumi said to her in the same loud tone, starting running after her.

And like this, the two of them stormed out of the house like scared cats.

''Haaa… Things are gonna get **tough!**'' Mizore sighed in a desperate tone, face-palming herself.

''Mizore… What's… the meaning of this?'' Tsurara asked her then in utter confusion and with her eyes opened wider than ever.

''Um? Err…''

* * *

[10 minutes later.]

With her mother being at the brink of having a crisis, Mizore had no other choice but to tell her everything that took place yesterday when Natsu saved her, this time without hiding anything, revealing to her his identity as a man whose powers are originated from the dragons. As for him; by Mizore's request, he remained silent, watching them with a comically guilty expression on his face and apparently having totally forgotten the incident at the hot spring.

Of course, despite the fact that Tsurara wished for some answers, in reality a part of hers wasn't exactly ready to hear the whole truth in one go. Certainly, she wouldn't begin disliking Natsu because of his nature since she wasn't so shallow minded, but she was very nervous about the consequences of his secret coming out to light. Her people's fear of fire was something that was bound to make the situation pretty awful.

''I can't believe it! How can you be so immature, Mizore?'' Tsurara asked her in a disappointed tone. ''You ought to have told me all this earlier.''

''And how would that have changed anything? Would you have taken it more lightly if I had told you about Natsu's powers from the beginning?''

''No, I would have been equally shocked, but at least then we would have taken some measures together to keep his secret safe. Now that it's exposed, we will have many troubles with the rest of the women here.''

''Maybe, but in any case, Natsu hasn't hurt anyone. Even the thing earlier was an accident. What could people possibly do without having sufficient proof that he's our enemy?''

That was a question that placed a valid point that no logical person could deny.

*Kftss* (Sound of a glass being shattered)

But sometimes there are a couple of people whose logic can't go against their stereotypes.

''Hm? What was that?'' Mizore questioned startled.

''It came from there.'' Natsu mentioned to her, pointing his right index finger at the direction the sound came from.

''It's from the front yard.'' Tsurara claimed, appearing some drops of cold sweat on her face.

Whatever that noise was; it most likely indicated that their hardships were about to begin. That's why they had to find out what was happening and fast.

* * *

[In front of the house's main door- At the inner side.]

Rushing fast to the place they heard the noise, Tsurara, Mizore and Natsu came upon a quite disturbing sight. The two small windows at the two sides of the main door had been shattered by two rocks that currently were lying on the floor a few inches away from the entrance. And to make matters worse, they could easily distinguish through them a raging crowd of snow women standing out of the house with furious expressions.

''Just as I suspected.'' Tsurara murmured, lowering her eyelids.

''What do mean, mother?'' Mizore asked her in an anxious tone.

''As it seems, the news of Natsu's identity has already been spread across the entire village, so the residents are here to hunt him.''

''-Hunt me-? Those women?'' Natsu asked her puzzled.

''Yes, Natsu-kun. Unfortunately, your presence is unwanted by our people since they learned of your powers.''

''But I'm not intending to do anything bad.''

''Even so, our race has suffered a great amount of casualties due to fire users, so the hatred residing inside our people's hearts is extremely deep.''

''What are we going to do, mother? There's no way we're going to let them hurt Natsu, right? I won't allow it. I owe him my life. If it's needed, I will fight.'' Mizore said to Tsurara in a determined tone.

''**No, no,**absolutely **no!**'' Natsu stated his disagreement on her thought, making an X with both his arms in front of his chest. ''Fighting your own people isn't right, Mizore. Those women don't have a problem with you. That's why there's no need for you to make others mad at you for my sake. I'm a man. If they want me, I'm not scared to go confront them.'' He claimed with a straight, unwavering voice.

''But…''

''Don't worry! This is common for the wizards of my guild. We get into this kind of trouble all the time… It's gonna be ok.'' He interrupted her with a kind expression and a reassuring smile, placing his right hand on her left shoulder gently.

An act that didn't exactly changed Mizore's feelings, but with Natsu showing such a resolve to handle that hopeless situation peacefully, she couldn't retort. But that applied only for her. Witnessing that scene between them and more specifically his decision to face everyone all alone to prevent them from directing their anger towards her daughter, Tsurara's desire to welcome him into her family grew even stronger. Natsu was without a doubt the right man to stand beside her daughter even if his element was making it look impossible because he couldn't even touch her directly. So, she wouldn't be able to call herself a good mother anymore if she were to remain idle under those circumstances… **And she wouldn't!**

''Very well! Since things came to this, I will try to persuade them into accepting Natsu-kun with everything I've got.'' Tsurara informed them with a determined expression.

''Eh? What are you saying, mother?'' Mizore asked her surprised, turning to her.

''You don't have to, Tsurara-san. I told you, I'm gonna take care of it myself. There's no reason for you to bother yourself with it.'' Natsu insisted, not going back on his decision.

''Hu, hu! In my opinion there is one, Natsu-kun.'' She giggled, smiling after a small chuckle.

Following that, she focused her eyes on her precious daughter.

''One **very ****important** reason!'' She added and turned towards the door. ''You two stay here and wait for me. I'm positive that I will manage something with a little effort.'' She instructed them, approaching the door and grabbing its handle.

Next, she turned it around and went out, closing quickly the door behind her and leaving Natsu and Mizore staring at it worried about her safety.

* * *

[Outside.]

''LOOK, SOMEONE CAME OUT!'' A woman yelled the moment she noticed Tsurara in front of the house's entrance.

''IT'S TSURARA-SAN!'' Another one followed.

''May I ask you what's the meaning of this ruckus, everyone? Is something the matter?'' Tsurara asked all of them, smiling casually like everything was fine.

''STOP PLAYING DUMB ON US, TSURARA-SAN! WE KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A FIRE USER INSIDE YOUR HOUSE!'' A third woman yelled at her furiously.

''HOW COULD YOU, TSURARA-SAN? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT WE HAVE SUFFERED BECAUSE OF FIRE USERS?'' A fourth woman yelled in the same state as the previous one.

But despite their yells, Tsurara's face didn't look at all fazed, holding instead its casual, calm expression.

''Of course, I haven't. But what makes you think that such a person is in my house?''

''Still trying to act ignorant, eh? But you can't fool us!'' The third woman stated to her and next turned to her back. ''You two, step forward.'' She ordered some other people.

People whose identity was no other than Yukimi and Setsumi, who after hearing her call, they came to the front, walking in a hesitant rhythm. As members of the snow women's race they had acted according to their laws, but in any case, they were too ashamed for succumbing to their panic, losing their composure and ending up betraying their employer and friend.

''We…We are really sorry, Tsurara-san!'' Yukimi apologized with her head bowed.

''It's just that we couldn't keep this important fact hidden from the others.'' Setsumi explained to her in the same apologetic tone as Yukimi, having her head bowed down as well.

After what they did, they couldn't bring themselves to look Tsurara in the eyes.

''It's fine! I understand. You two acted as lawful citizens of our land.'' Tsurara said to both in a kind, forgiving tone.

Something that helped them lift their `burden` and brought tears to their eyes due to how much compassionate Tsurara was. So, wishing to express their gratitude to her, they raised their heads, but before they had the chance to comment on how big-hearted she was, they were cut short by the quick interruption of another woman's voice.

''Something that apparently doesn't apply for you, Tsurara-san.'' A deep, womanly voice was heard saying from the middle of the crowd.

Then, a middle aged, silver-haired woman in her sixties, wearing glasses and a white kimono with a gray sash, made her appearance, walking past some women until she arrived in front of Tsurara.

''So, you came too, Shura-san…? But I'm guessing it was inevitable.'' Tsurara stated, still keeping her casual expression.

''I'm the snow priestess-sama's `right hand`, so it's a given that I would attend in such a critical matter for our village.''

''But if this is as important as you claim, why didn't snow priestess-sama come herself?''

''Snow priestess-sama had to take care of another urgent matter, so the responsibility of protecting our people fell into my hands... But don't try to change the subject. You committed one of the worst crimes, Tsurara-san; providing shelter to a man who endangers our entire population's lives just with his sole existence.''

''My apologies, Shura-san, but I think you are exaggerating. Natsu-kun certainly is a man who can manipulate flames, but after meeting him and talking to him, I realized that he poses no threat to us. He is a very good boy. I can assure you that he isn't someone who would ever hurt anyone of our people.'' Tsurara claimed in a positive tone, lowering her eyelids momentary.

As difficult as it might was, she had to convince everyone that it was alright to allow Natsu to stay at their village. And that included the highest and eldest members of their society whose minds were still affected by the past.

* * *

[In the meantime –Inside the house - In the living room.]

While Tsurara was outside, giving it her best to persuade the masses into accepting Natsu, he and Mizore were in the living room, watching everything from a large window. Furthermore, before they did that, they went and took Natsu's usual clothes from the cleaning room since their washing has been finished so he won't have to keep wandering around wearing only a towel.

''Who is that grumpy-looking granny?'' Natsu asked Mizore curiously, focusing his eyes on Shura.

''Her name is Shura and she's our leader's most trusted helper. Following the snow priestess, she holds the highest authority in our village.''

''Oh… I see…''

''Yeah… But now that she appeared, things aren't going to be so easy for my mother.''

''Why's that?''

''Shura-san's two daughters were murdered by a fire creature some years ago, so she holds a huge grudge against anybody who uses the element. My mother is an expert at convincing others, but unfortunately Shura-san's case is a level beyond her.''

''Should we then go out to back her up?''

''I don't think this is a wise idea. The situation is already too tense, so if you happen to appear out there, it's pretty much certain that it's going to turn into a disaster.''

''Are you sure? I told you, I'm not afraid and I'm feeling kind of guilty, letting Tsurara-san handle everything on her own. That's not how Igneel raised me.''

''Even so, we must endure it and hope that my mother will work something out. Right now this is the only thing we can do.'' Mizore stated to him, frowning and tightening her grip over the window's inner edge.

She too wanted to go assist her mother, but she knew that their interference would cause her more problems than help her. Something Natsu understood, first by her words and later by witnessing her reaction. Mizore was suffering, watching her mother going against their entire tribe all alone, but she was trying to endure it, retaining hope in her mother's skills. That's why, despite that he liked more to act first and think later, he had to follow her example and be patient as frustrating as it would be.

* * *

[Outside.]

''-A very good boy- you said, Tsurara-san?'' Shura asked her with a stern expression on her face.

''Yes, Shura-san. Natsu-kun is without a doubt a splendid gentleman, so there's no reason for you or anyone else to feel any sort of insecurity.''

''Is that so? But what if he is deceiving you and he actually came here to annihilate us? People of the fire are all traitorous and devious creatures.''

''Maybe some are, but Natsu-kun isn't. I have confidence in my ability to judge people and from the moment I looked Natsu-kun in the eyes, I could easily tell that he doesn't hide any evil in his heart.''

''And that's why you are defending him so persistently may I assume?''

''Precisely!''

''Hn! Such trust towards a fire user...'' Shura snorted at Tsurara. ''…You truly make me feel disappointed on you, Tsurara-san. I had high expectations of you. You were one of the most suitable people to take my place when I retire… It's truly a pity that you drove me into having to do this.'' She stated to her in a tone full of displeasure.

''What you mean, Shura-san? Do what?'' Tsurara asked her slightly confused by her last sentence.

''**This!**'' Shura answered to her with a deep scowl, snapping her right hand's fingers.

A gesture that alarmed six of her young followers who were inside the crowd and that, after noticing it, they rushed towards Tsurara without any warning, surrounding her in a matter of seconds.

''Um?! What…?'' Tsurara was about to question, but before she has the chance, the six snow women began using their powers in a flash, trapping her whole body in thick ice.

A sight that made Tsurara goggle in astonishment as she observed the ice reaching her neck.

''Shura-san, please reconsider it! It will bring shame upon our tribe if we injure an innocent gues…'' Tsurara tried to say to Shura, raising her face to look at her, but once again, she was cut short.

''SILENCE…! What will bring shame upon us is your foolishness, Tsurara-san! How did you even think for a second that there was even a slim chance for us to accept this…THIS FIEND… walking among us? Fire users are our eternal ENEMIES! The monuments in memory of my two beloved daughters are currently in snow priestess-sama 's shrine together with the monuments of countless others who also fell victim to their cruelty to keep reminding us their true face… I don't care in the least what you think about this born-criminal! He dared to set foot in our peaceful village, so I will use all my power and authority to exterminate him before another poor mother ends up shedding tears of sorrow for her children… But firstly, we have to deal with you, Tsurara-san. You violated our laws and on top of that, you took the side of one of our sworn enemies. In other words, you are a **traitor** and like a **traitor **you will be judged.'' Shura stated to her furiously, looking like she would explode in any second due to anger.

Next, she lifted her right hand, transforming it into an ice claw and pointing it at Tsurara's head.

''Tsurara Shirayuki, you are guilty of betraying your own race, so in priestess-sama's stead I pass judgment upon you and sentence you to death. May you regret your mistake in the afterlife.'' She said to her in a completely cold and unemotional tone.

During the past years, Shura's hatred had consumed her whole and her heart had become as hard as the ice around their village, rendering her unable to find it in herself to forgive even a woman who she actually admired.

''Do you have any last words, Tsurara-san?'' Shura asked her in the same inhuman tone.

''Just one... To leave my daughter out of all this after I die... She is still too young and hasn't experienced true happiness yet.'' Tsurara answered to her in a pleading tone, lowering her head as much as she could to give emphasis to her words.

But her request wasn't destined to be heard.

''I'm afraid that's impossible. Your daughter is equally guilty as you, so she will be executed likewise.'' Shura responded to her without a single hesitation in her words.

''**Eh?!**'' Tsurara jolted in shock, hearing her.

''Now it's time... Goodbye, Tsurara-san!'' Shura exclaimed and fired a large and pretty sharp ice dagger at her.

* * *

[Inside the house.]

''**MOTHEEER!**'' Mizore screamed that moment, tears appearing in her eyes while witnessing Shura's ice dagger approaching her mother.

But hope wasn't lost yet.

*Kftss*

* * *

[Again outside.]

When everything seemed so grim, looking like Tsurara's end had finally come, the window from where Mizore and Natsu were watching everything broke suddenly and following that, a figure jumped quickly from inside of it, placing itself in front of Tsurara and catching the ice dagger with its left hand a little before it made contact with her skull.

This figure was, as expected, Natsu. Watching how awfully that Shura-woman treated a gentle person like Tsurara was one thing, but seeing also Mizore shedding tears was enough for him to run out of patience. So, not being able to hold himself back anymore, he broke the window in front of him and immediately jumped out to protect his friend's mother.

''**THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!**'' He shouted in extreme anger, smashing the ice dagger to pieces by tightening his grip on it.

''Natsu…?'' Mizore murmured astonished behind the broken window with her eyes wide open, not having the time to realize what took place a few seconds ago.

''Natsu-kun… why did you come out? I told you to stay inside.'' Tsurara said to him in an anxious tone, worrying for his life.

''Yeah… But you know, Tsurara-san… Sitting still when my friends are in danger isn't quite my thing.'' Natsu replied to her in a straight tone without turning back to her.

Next, he focused his sight on Shura, scowling.

''**You… **So, you are that accursed devil that infiltrated our village?'' Shura asked him with a scowl similar to Natsu's.

''And what of it? Just because I came here, you need to punish my friend and her mother?'' Natsu asked her back as an answer. ''**Don't joke around!**I don't care what's your opinion about me, but I will **never** allow anyone to even put a small scratch on the people who treated me so nicely.'' He stated to her in a tone full of determination.

''Ha! How typical! In the end, criminals are bound to defend other criminals.'' Shura commented with a clear sourness in her voice.

''The only criminal here is **you**, old hag!'' Natsu said to her with a tick mark making its appearance on the right of his forehead.

''WHAT…?!'' Shura questioned in shock, goggling intensively. ''You insolent young barbarian! How dare you?'' She asked him and following that looked at her followers. ''KILL HIM!'' She commanded, directing her voice at her followers.

An order that by hearing it, they raised their hands, transforming them into ice claws and pointing them at Natsu. Continuing from there, they began firing multiple ice daggers towards his direction, striving to rip him to shreds. Little did they know; this was nothing to someone like Natsu.

The moment the daggers reached close to him, he engulfed his entire body in flames, turning the ice daggers into steam. Moving on from that, he raised his hands to his shoulders height, pointing them at his two sides and firing a small fireball from each one towards the ground in front of Shura's followers to scare them off so they would stop attacking.

A goal he achieved quite easily, making them run away like cats after his fireballs exploded on the ground. But that wasn't the only thing his action resulted to.

''OH MY GOD! FLAMES! – HE IS MAD! – HE IS GOING TO KILL US ALL! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! – PLEASE, SOMEONE SAVE US!'' A series of panicked screams began being heard from the crowd that moment.

''Tch! I knew it! You finally revealed your true colors, you damn killer. That's why I said that all fire users are evil. You…'' Shura started saying to him in a half displeased-half worrying tone, but was destined to be cut short.

''**OOHH,****SHUT UP ALREADY!**'' Natsu growled at her pretty pissed.

An act that took Shura aback and made her start sweating.

''I'M TIRED OF HEARING YOU…! DEVIL-THIS, KILLER-THAT… ALRIGHT, I GOT IT! MY PRESENCE HERE ANNOYS EVERYONE, SO I WILL LEAVE IF THAT'S WHAT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER.'' He yelled again at her in an irritated tone. ''Just promise me that you are gonna forgive Tsurara-san and Mizore later.'' He asked of her, returning to his usual tone.

''I'm not making deals with enemies.'' Shura claimed to him stubbornly.

''Oh, yeah? Does this means that you are ok with forcing me to leave by yourself?'' He asked her with an intimidating look in his eyes, cracking his knuckles to give emphasis to his words.

As for Shura; seeing that he was fully determined to cause trouble if she were to keep denying his proposition and fearing for hers and her people's lives, she came into a conclusion that she had no other choice but to accept it.

''F-Fine! If you leave, I give you my word that Tsurara Shirayuki's and her daughter's life will be spared.'' She answered to him a bit hesitantly with an expression that revealed her frustration for having to succumb to his threat.

''That's better!'' Natsu commented hearing her and then deactivated the flaming cloak he had clad himself in.

Next, he turned to Tsurara and by touching the ice that had her trapped, he started transferring a small amount of heat onto it, reducing it gradually to water until she was completely free.

''Thank you, Natsu-kun!'' Tsurara thanked him when she was finally free.

''No, don't mention it, Tsurara-san. You defended me. If I hadn't done the same, I couldn't call myself a man.''

That moment and with the coast being clear, Mizore jumped too out of the broken window, running to her mother's and Natsu's side.

''MOTHER!'' She shouted full of tears, embracing tightly her mother, who she almost lost to the hands of Shura.

''Calm down, Mizore. I'm alright. You don't need to cry.'' Tsurara said to her gently, patting her head.

Then, she returned the hug back just as tightly as Mizore was currently holding her. She didn't want to show it, but it was a fact that she feared that she would die without being able to see her daughter again. As for Natsu; watching them, he smiled satisfied, feeling a sort of nostalgia for when Igneel was hugging him with his huge tail.

But unfortunately, that moving sight wouldn't last long.

''This is getting awfully annoying!'' Shura complained, staring at Natsu and the two women.

''Huh?!'' Natsu questioned frowning, turning to her. ''What's your deal now?''

''Tsurara-san and her daughter can enjoy their reunion whenever they wish later and you have to keep your part of the bargain and disappear from our land without further delay.'' She answered to him bluntly.

An answer that rose Natsu's annoyance, but to his dismay, she was right. He had agreed that he would leave if she were to forgive his friend and her mother, so he had to stay true to his own words.

''Oohh! Ok! I'm leaving. I'm fed up with looking at you anyway.'' He replied to her and turned to the village's exit, starting to walk towards it.

(Start playing Fairy Tail's Main Theme- Piano Version if you like.)

''Wait! Natsu!'' Mizore called out to him, letting go of her mother and chasing after him.

''Um? What is it, Mizore?'' He asked her, stopping in his tracks and turning halfway back to her.

''Where are you going to go? You don't have anywhere else to stay or someone else to help you.'' She stated to him with a worrying expression.

''Well… I can't deny any of these, but either way… I will manage. I'm a tough guy!'' He reassured her, smiling cheerfully.

Following that, he resumed his way towards the exit. But before he left, the snow women who were present there had a small farewell gift to offer him.

''YOU MONSTER! GO AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK!'' One of them yelled at him and without any hesitation, grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at his back.

*Gdp* (Sound of a stone hitting something)

But despite that, Natsu decided to ignore it and continue walking.

''YES! JUST GET OUT OF OUR PEACEFUL VILLAGE!'' Another woman yelled at him and copied the previous one, grabbing a rock too and throwing it at Natsu.

*Gdp*

''ALL FIRE USERS ARE SCUM AND MUST DIE!'' A third followed the other two into yelling and next into throwing a rock at Natsu.

*Gdp*

And somewhere at that point, every other woman who was there grabbed a rock and threw it in her turn at Natsu.

*Gdp**Gdp**Gdp**Gdp**Gdp**Gdp*

The rocks really were falling on him like rain drops and even with his hard muscles it was inevitable for his body to suffer a few minor bruises. But Natsu paid no heed to it and kept walking steadily, looking solely to his front. Those people were behaving towards him like he was some kind of crook, so he had every right to get furious at them and counter attack, but his vow to never fight anyone innocent and his loyalty to Fairy Tail's ideals weren't allowing him to raise a hand against them. Those people were mean to him, but it wasn't due to evilness. Apparently, they had a quite bad history with people of his element and that was enough to cloud their minds. That's why Natsu's only option was to let them do as they pleased. That way it would be easier for them to calm down according to his logic.

To what it had to do with Mizore now; she was just staying still at her spot, staring at him with a pained expression, her right fist over her chest and her lips as well as her eyelids tightened. Natsu hadn't done anything wrong to deserve that cruel treatment, but neither her, nor her mother could do something to help him because that would waste all the efforts he was putting to not further anger Shura and the other women. He chose to sacrifice himself for their sake and they were obligated to respect it… No matter how unbearable it was.

(Now stop the OST if you started hearing it.)

* * *

[15 minutes later – At the snow priestess's palace - In a hidden chamber beneath the main shrine.]

While all of those events were taking placing down at the village, the snow women's leader, the snow priestess, was inside a secret room inside her palace, chanting some spells in front of a large altar with a shining, snow flake-shaped, deep azure crystal attached to its center.

''This looks like it would be enough for the meantime.'' She commented, stopping her chanting and taking a better look at the crystal. ''I don't know why, but its power has been pretty unstable since yesterday. I wonder if this has something to do with Jack's prophecy.'' She murmured then to herself skeptically.

Following that and having finished with what she went to do there, she began climbing the stairs that were leading to the upper levels of her palace.

* * *

[10 minutes later – In the palace's throne chamber.]

''I spent a lot of time down there, so I hope nothing grave happened while I was absent.'' She said to herself the moment she sat on her throne ready to look in her crystal ball.

But to her surprise, she witnessed something which was far from what she hoped. Inside her ball she saw almost all the village's women gathered at Tsurara's house's yard, having surrounded her as well as her daughter and pointing their ice claws at them. In addition, for some bizarre reason, everyone had a pretty hostile expression on their faces and especially her loyal helper, Shura. A sight that left the snow priestess quite puzzled, driving her into using her powers to transform her body into an icy wind so she could go quickly to see firsthand what was happening.

* * *

[The same time – Back to Tsurara's house.]

''YOU'VE GOT TO BE **KIDDING **ME! YOU PROMISED NATSU THAT YOU WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING AGAINST US! THAT'S WHY HE AGREED TO LEAVE.'' Mizore yelled at Shura, scowling.

In less than half an hour after Natsu's departure, Shura ordered without warning for every woman there to apprehend Tsurara and Mizore, threatening them with their ice daggers so they wouldn't escape.

''Promises towards an enemy are invalid.'' Shura claimed to her with no remorse or shame. ''You two committed a grave crime, so it's proper to punish you. If I were to avert my eyes of this, God knows what you will do next... **No…!** I can't let this act of treason pass.''

''Please, Shura-san! You can do whatever you see fit with me, but as a mother to another mother, **I beg you**, don't kill my daughter!'' Tsurara pleaded Shura as intensively as she could, appearing tears to her eyes.

''Unfortunately, I ceased being a mother long ago because of people like the one you tried to protect. So, no matter how many times you beg me, you won't achieve anything, Tsurara-san. I'm going to execute you** both** this precise moment. For our village's and our dear leader's sake.'' Shura replied to her pleading in a cold tone.

Next, she raised her right hand in the air like a military officer before he gives the final signal for his troops to fire at a criminal sentenced to death while the women prepared their ice claws to fire the ice daggers at them.

But things wouldn't go Shura's way that time, either. Just when she was ready to lower her hand so the others could begin the execution, something grabbed it, stopping her.

''Eh?! Who dares to…'' Shura started asking in an irritated tone, turning slowly her face backwards.

But she wouldn't have the chance to finish her speech.

''For whose sake did you say that you will execute them?'' She heard then stunned the snow priestess asking her herself with a serious expression a few centimeters away from her back.

''M-My Lady!'' Shura muttered, astonished with her eyes wide open. ''W-What are you doing here?''

''This is **my** question, Shura-san? Why are you treating Tsurara-san and her daughter this way? She is one of our society's most respected members. What could she have possibly done that requires such a heavy punishment?''

''My Lady… What I'm doing is for the good of our tribe. This shameless traitor and her equally treacherous daughter attempted to shelter a fire user inside our village. Can you believe their nerve? **A fire user!** Our entire race's most hated enemy!'' Shura explained to her, turning her whole body to her back and kneeling in front of the snow priestess.

An action the other snow women mimicked simultaneously, withdrawing their ice claws.

''What did you just say? A fire user?'' The snow priestess asked her, jolting in shock.

''Yes! A despicable person of fire… But thankfully, I managed to fool him and send him away from our land.'' Shura answered to her in a humble tone.

As for the snow priestess; she felt like she had been struck by lightning. –Could that man be the one from the prophecy?- she questioned in her dead. –If he was, her helper had done one of most tragic mistakes ever.- she continued thinking, upset. But speculations alone were meaningless. She had to make sure that he was indeed the one before ordering the formation of search party to go look for him.

And so, with that in mind, she approached Tsurara and Mizore.

''You have my utmost gratitude, snow priestess-sama! I owe you mine and my daughter's life.'' Tsurara thanked her in a respectful tone, bowing slightly her head.

After that, she turned it to Mizore without raising it up.

''Mizore, don't be rude. Bow and thank the snow priestess-sama too.'' She whispered to her daughter to prevent their benefactor thinking that her daughter was ungrateful.

But at the moment, that was the least of the snow priestess's worries.

''No, It's alright! There's no need. On the other hand, I would like for you to give me some information.'' She told both with an impatient expression.

''-Information-?'' Tsurara repeated curiously, raising her head.

''Exactly…! That fire user you hosted at your house… How did he look like?''

''Um? How does Natsu-kun looks like?''

''Yes! It's very important, so you have to tell me.''

''Natsu is close to my age, has dark pink hair, brown eyes, a red tattoo on his right shoulder and well… he's also pretty muscular.'' Mizore answered to her as the person who had observed him most compared to her mother.

And that moment it was when everything finally became clear. If what Mizore told her was true, that –Natsu- was undoubtedly the man in her vision. That also meant that they had to get him back or else their future was doomed.

But to their bad luck, they wouldn't have the opportunity.

''SHURA-SAAANNN! EVERYONEEE! PLEASE HELP US!'' A woman's voice was heard screaming desperately from the village's entrance's direction.

Hearing it, everyone turned to where it came from puzzled, watching one of their women running like crazy towards them.

* * *

[When the woman arrived to everyone's location.]

''Haa… Haa… It's terrible…! Haa… Someone help us… Haa…'' She pleaded, falling on her knees due to exhaustion and panting heavily.

''What's the matter, Fuyuko-san?'' The snow priestess asked the woman, approaching her.

''Oh, snow priestess-sama… It's a nightmare! They appeared from nowhere and suddenly one of them killed Yukie-san and Oki-san.'' Fuyuko answered to her in distraught, talking very fast.

''Who did? Fuyuko-san, you need to pull yourself together and explain to us in a way we will be able to understand you.''

''A-As you wish…''

* * *

[5 minutes later.]

Doing her best, Fuyuko held back her panic and next explained to all of them that while she and the other two women, who were appointed to guard the main entrance of their village, were fulfilling their duties as usual, a large number of black jeeps began making their appearance from inside the forest, parking a few meters away from the village's perimeter. Following that, multiple people dressed in black suits and wearing black shades got out of them, swarming in front of the entrance. Then, she and the other women went to ask them the reason for that massive gathering of theirs and one of them with a pretty large body, wearing a black fur coat and smoking a cigar demanded to talk to their leader right away. But when they told him that he had to request for an audience with her first, he lit his hands in a deep crimson flame and threw two big fire balls to the two other women, reducing them to steam in a matter of seconds. Moving on from that, he instructed Fuyuko to run back to the village and bring their leader in front of him quickly, otherwise he was going to burn their land to nothing.

''Does this means that he's still waiting for me at the entrance, Fuyuko-san?'' The snow priestess asked her, frowning anxiously from what she had heard.

''Yes, snow priestess-sama. He said that he will wait for you for a little, but if you dared to ignore him, our tribe is finished.'' Fuyuko mentioned to her, trembling like a leaf.

''I see… Then, I don't have much of a choice. I will go meet him.'' She replied to her with a straight expression.

''Don't be rash, my Lady! Didn't you hear, Fuyuko-san? That guy apparently is another fire user. My guess is that he is a comrade of the young boy and he came here with his men seeking revenge for chasing away their comrade.'' Shura stated upset to her. ''If you go, your life will be in danger.''

''**Hey! **Natsu isn't such a coward and he doesn't know anyone else in our Realm.'' Mizore snapped that moment at Shura, stepping forward.

''Who gave you the right to state your opinion, little girl? Disgraces like you shouldn't meddle in such serious matters. You ought to be thankful for not being executed and hide in your house.'' Shura replied to her, turning back to her extremely annoyed. ''If not, I will see to it myself to discipline you in the most harsh way possib...''

''Shura-san, please refrain from making your position worse than it already is.'' The snow priestess interrupted her suddenly, sounding displeased.

''Eh? What do you mean, my Lady?'' Shura asked her startled, turning to her.

''Such decisions as sentencing someone to death are strictly mine to take. With what you did earlier, you stepped over your authority's boundaries, so if there is someone here who needs discipline, this one is clearly you… But for the time being, I must deal with our unexpected visitors, so your punishment will have to wait.'' She claimed bluntly and next started heading without delay towards the place those men had gathered to see what they wanted from her.

The same time, watching her doing so, the rest of her tribe decided to escort her from behind to support her if she were to face those unknown men. An action Mizore and Tsurara mimicked, unlike Shura who was so shocked by her master's words that she couldn't move a muscle, remaining back frozen like a statue.

* * *

[10 minutes later – At the village's entrance.]

''Hm? Ha! About time you showed up, priestess of the snow land.'' Dreik commented, noticing the snow priestess coming to his place followed by her tribe.

''I apologize for making you wait, sir, but when I was informed about your request to see me, I was in the middle of solving an internal problem of my people.'' She explained to him in a polite tone.

Next, she focused her sight on him, taking a pretty serious expression.

''Now, can I please hear the reason of your sudden visit and why you attacked my citizens?'' She asked him straightly without any fear in her speech.

''-Your citiz…-, oh, you are talking about those two stupid wretches that tried to play the tough guys to me. Well, they went asking for it.'' Dreik answered to her casually, not showing any remorse for his crime. ''As of why we came here…'' He continued saying to her, forming secretly a fire ball of compressed flames in his right palm. ''…I suppose that's a given.'' He finished his sentence smirking deviously. ''We are here…'' He started saying to her again, swiftly drawing back his right hand. ''…TO SEIZE YOUR HOME OF COURSE!'' He shouted to her, finishing his second sentence and throwing the fire ball at the snow priestess with force.

''Wh…?'' She was about to question, goggling intensively, but before she had the chance to do so, the fire ball crashed on her chest, unleashing all the stored flame it had inside of it.

A fact that in its turn forced the snow priestess to fall down with her body covered in water. A normal snow woman would surely have died instantly if she were to be hit by such strong flames, but thankfully for her, she was an exception among her race with a body many times sturdier than their own.

''SNOW PRIESTESS-SAMA!'' All the women screamed that moment simultaneously in shock.

Following that, Tsurara together with some of them, ran to her side to see in what condition she was and to help her stand.

In the meantime, a few meters away from them, Dreik and his men were looking at them with a series of mocking and satisfied smiles.

''I like this land so…'' He started proclaiming then to them, but was unexpectedly cut short.

''YOU RUFFIAN! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO THE SNO…'' A woman of the ones close to the snow priestess tried to yell at him, but as it seemed, like the snow priestess, she wouldn't have the chance to complete her sentence.

While she was in the middle of speaking, Dreik pointed his left index finger at her heart, firing in a flash a fire beam at it and reducing like this her owner to water.

''I hate it when others don't have any tact and interrupt me while I'm talking.'' He stated in a half hostile-half annoyed tone to all the speechless snow women who were staring at him with their eyes wide open and their bodies trembling.

Their land was currently facing its second greatest crisis after the Fairy Tale incident, but the difference was that compared to that time, right now there wasn't anyone to defend them against those new invaders. Even Natsu, who was most likely their only ray of hope, had to leave their village due to Shura's efforts.

Earlier they chose to rely on their unjustified fears, so they had to pay the price… **The ****ultimate price!**

* * *

**A/N: And that's the end for now.**

**1: I know that I have promised you more action, but the thing is that this chap ended up way larger than I had anticipated since I didn't want to mess the natural pace of the story, so I decided to stop it at the most proper point. I apologize for not giving you the action I promised, but the positive side is that now I have all the free space I need to describe the upcoming battle even better in the next chap. Because we will have one next time and it will be awesome. ;) **

**2: As you realized, I just put the bases for one of the story's most dramatic elements. And of course I'm referring to the fact that Natsu can't directly touch any of the snow women and in accordance Mizore. As I previously stated, I look at these two like they are Romeo and Juliet, so I needed something really sufficient to prevent their getting together. But the story isn't labeled as tragedy, so don't get discouraged. **

**3: Next chap I'm planning to give you a nostalgic Fairy Tail speech's feeling.**

**4: I decided except the music suggestions, to start giving you and a small hint about every next chap like a small preview.**

**So, chap 3's hint is: An image of a furious Natsu standing between some rubble while being surrounded by a very large pile of fire, his skin over a few parts of his body looking scaly and his eyes glowing in a bright red.**

**Once again, my thanks to my beta reader****Puck's Favourite Girl for her great help in completing this chapter.**

**See you next time!**

**Be well and love Japan! ****Ja'ne!**


End file.
